The extinct Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and today’s African and Asian lions (Panthera leo) belong to separate evolutionary lineages that diverged roughly 1.7 million years ago -- far earlier than previously thought, according to an analysis of 12 cave lion genomes spanning more than 100,000 years.

The post Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In new research, scientists sequenced and analyzed chromosome-level genomes of the Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and the southern anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla).

The post Secret to Sloths’ Slow Life May Lie in Ancient ‘Jumping Genes’ appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Euplotes gigatrox, a new species of ciliate collected from a seawater filtration system on the Caribbean Island of Curaçao, can transform into a cannibalistic ‘supergiant,’ raising new questions about the complexity of life at the microscopic scale.

The post When Food Runs Short, This Single-Celled Organism Turns into Giant Cannibal to Survive appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.