Tuesday, September 16, 2025

A volcano erased an island’s plants. Their DNA revealed how life starts over

Volcanic eruptions on the remote island of Nishinoshima repeatedly wipe the land clean, giving scientists a rare chance to study life’s earliest stages. Researchers traced the genetic origins of an extinct purslane population to nearby Chichijima but found striking quirks—evidence of a founder’s effect and genetic drift. These discoveries shed light on how plants recolonize harsh environments and how ecosystems evolve from scratch.

from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/rV4NYow

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Scientists discover first new penguin species in more than 100 years

Genetic evidence has revealed a previously unknown gentoo penguin species on the remote Kerguelen Islands and shown that gentoos actually co...