New paper on floresiensis

Ever since the 'hobbits' (Homo floresiensis) were discovered in 2003, on the Indonesian island of Flores, there has been an on-going debate about their exact relationship with our own species. One interpretation of the fossils sees them as members of our own species, with the most complete individual (LB1) having suffered from microcephaly (ie an abnormally small […]

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The risks of sex (well, one of them, anyway)

That got your attention, didn't it? Being male can be a risky business. In a butterfly called Hypolimna bolina, there's a rather nifty bacterial parasite called Wolbachia that has unfortunate effects on male butterflies. It's carried down the maternal line and kills off male embryos. Just the males. This can result in some pretty skewed sex ratios. (And presumably an […]

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