Evolution
-
Signs of change from a turbulent era
Drill core reveals boom-bust landscape in Africa’s Rift Valley.
A new drill core, preserving a million years of environmental history in the East African Rift Valley, is helping unt...
-
Revisiting the question of reptile evolution
Analysis contradicts adaptive radiation theory.
Analysis of a vast database of reptilian information contradicts the theory that major transitions in evolution alway...
-
Mozzies thrive with a gene missing
Unfortunately, another has evolved to do its job.
This may seem hard to believe given their tenacity and constant presence, but mosquitoes lack a gene that is critical...
-
New thoughts on how sharks evolved
Mongolian fossil has a surprisingly bony skull.
This 410-million-year-old fossil with a bony skull uncovered in Mongolia may force a rethink of how sharks evolved. ...
-
Cichlids set the pace in east Africa’s lakes
Discovering the secrets of the fastest evolving species.
Species formation typically happens slowly through new mutations over millions of years, but there are exceptions. ...
-
Bird skulls evolved surprisingly slowly
Things tapered off after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
It’s quite remarkable that emus, pelicans, hummingbirds, hawks and woodpeckers are all part of the same class of anim...
-
Does a 'recycled' brain region let us read?
New study adds weight to an evolutionary hypothesis.
The ability to read sets humans apart from other species, but we’re not completely sure how the brain developed the a...
-
Humans have more time so have sharper skills
Longer childhoods and larger brains help finetune things.
Humans develop manual dexterity skills after a cumulative sequence of steps that also take place in other primates, a...
-
Tracing the evolution of vertebrate teeth
Imaging technology suggests a very early start.
The evolutionary roots of teeth and dermal jawbones (cheekbones), the precursor to vertebrate jaws as we know them to...
-
Did landscapes make land animals smart?
Navigating survival could have created bigger brains.
When it comes to superpowers, humans have dreamed up everything from super strength and X-ray vision to body morphing...
-
How to be a fish out of water
Blennies reveal trials and tribulations of adaptation.
Animals have evolved some incredible adaptations to survive, especially those that moved from water to land – but the...
-
Hurricane coming? Get bigger toepads
Study suggests lizards evolve to hang on.
Lizard groups that frequently experience hurricanes evolve larger toepads than those that don’t, according to a new s...