Latest Jessica Theodor Stories

Mammals can evolve from the size of a mouse to the size of an elephant in as little as 24 million generations, although they shrink more than 10 times as fast as they grow to large sizes, according to new research reported Monday by an international team of biologists and paleontologists. The study is the first of its kind to measure how fast large-scale evolution can occur in mammals. The researchers explored increases and decreases in mammal size following the extinction of dinosaurs...

New research published in the journal Science this week has determined that mammals grew larger following the extinction of dinosaurs, suggesting that they needed more space and better access to food resources in order to reach their full potential.The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by University of New Mexico (UNM) scientists, discovered that after dinosaurs died out some 65 million years ago, mammals began to grow, ultimately reaching sizes up to...

Canadian and U.S. professors are disputing each other's view of the family tree involving hippos, whales and pigs. Associate Professors Jessica Theodor of the University of Calgary and Jonathan Geisler of Georgia Southern University are disputing a recent study by Professor J.G. Thewissen of Northeastern Ohio University that says whales are more closely linked to an extinct pig-like animal, often known as India's pig or Indohyus, while hippos are closely related to living pigs. What...

Researchers rebut family tree involving hippos, whales and pigs in this week's NatureHippos spend lots of time in the water and now it turns out (or researchers argue), they are the closest living relative to whales. It also turns out, the two are swimming in a bit of controversy.Jessica Theodor, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, and her colleague Jonathan Geisler, associate professor at Georgia Southern University are disputing a...