evolutionary

"We discovered that the causes of those recent extinctions were very different from the threats species are currently facing," said Wiens, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

The asteroid impact brought the age of dinosaurs to an abrupt end, but the ecosystems they left behind became the foundation for a new evolutionary chapter.

Looking ahead, the team plans to study earlier and less-understood ancestors of these apex predators to fill in the remaining gaps of the Tyrannosaur evolutionary story.

A recent study found that small evolutionary mutations in cGAS -- an enzyme in the innate immune system that detects DNA and triggers immune defenses -- could make these animals better at repairing age-related genetic damage.

He has tended to accept the premises of evolutionary psychology in ways that religious people typically do not.