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An ancient melon which is the closest relative and potential ancestor of the watermelon, has been discovered by scientists.
A team of scientists led by Dr Guillaume Chomicki, from the University of Sheffield, has discovered the potential progenitor of the domestic watermelon, the Kordofan melon, using DNA sequencing technologies and analyses with historical data and Ancient Egyptian iconography.
The discovery could explain why watermelons are so susceptible to disease as their analysis shows how key disease-resistant genes were lost as the melon was domesticated, and also help us to breed more disease-resistant watermelons in the future.
The findings show that the melon originates from North Eastern Africa, in the region of Kordofan in Sudan, settling decades old debate and giving us more insight into how the watermelon was domesticated.
One Billion-Year-Old Fossil Could Be The Oldest Multicellular Animal forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Billion-year-old Fossil Reveals Missing link In The Evolution Of Animals Source: University of Sheffield
Image of the fossil
A billion year old fossil, which provides a new link in the evolution of animals, has been discovered in the Scottish Highlands.
A team of scientists, led by the University of Sheffield in the UK and Boston College in the USA, has found a microfossil which contains two distinct cell types and could be the earliest multicellular animal ever recorded.
The fossil reveals new insight into the transition of single celled organisms to complex multicellular animals. Modern single celled holozoa include the most basal living animals, the fossil discovered shows an organism which lies somewhere between single cell and multicellular animals.
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A billion year old fossil, which provides a new link in the evolution of animals, has been discovered in the Scottish Highlands.
A team of scientists, led by the University of Sheffield in the UK and Boston College in the USA, has found a microfossil which contains two distinct cell types and could be the earliest multicellular animal ever recorded.
The fossil reveals new insight into the transition of single celled organisms to complex multicellular animals. Modern single celled holozoa include the most basal living animals, the fossil discovered shows an organism which lies somewhere between single cell and multicellular animals.
Billion-Year-Old Fossil From Scottish Highlands Reveals Missing Link in Animal Evolution technologynetworks.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from technologynetworks.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.