Evolution
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Bat DNA hosts stolen Ebola genes
Bats adopt parts of the DNA of the deadly virus.
Filoviruses like Marburg and Ebola produce terrifying and often fatal haemorrhagic fevers. New research, however, sho...
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Conversation
Rethinking the origins of Homo sapiens
A profound shift underway in the science of human origins.
You might say it’s the ultimate prize of science, to discover when, where and why humans evolved. For a long time, t...
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The secret of the green-blooded lizards
Green blood evolved independently four times.
There are several lizard species in New Guinea with green blood, instead of the usual red. The lime green colour is d...
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Urban fish evolve to part from country cousins
Human activity can be a driver of evolutionary adaptation.
Urbanisation is driving rapid evolutionary responses in some wild species of fish, researchers have found. In a pape...
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How insects spring to attention
Trade-offs when animals use spring-like structures revealed.
What do archers have in common with fleas? A new study now has identified the common engineering principles that enab...
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A brief history of panspermia
The ancient history of a surprisingly resilient idea.
A recent journal paper argues that life did not originate on our planet, but arrived within comets and meteorites fal...
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Teeth development may hold evolution clues
It could help trace evolutionary relationships.
Examining the fossil record through the lens of evolutionary developmental biology may help scientists reassess the t...
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No human DNA found in Neanderthal genome
They swapped genes, but none of the human ones retained.
Gene flow between Neanderthals and early modern humans may have been a one-way street, researchers have found. While...
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Magic mushrooms kill the appetite
Gene transfer may be behind the hallucinogenic compound.
New research on the evolutionary genetics of fungi reveals that the compound that makes some mushrooms ‘magic’ may ha...
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Raven species reverse Darwin’s tree
DNA analysis finds two lineages have merged, not converged.
A new study of the genetic make-up of ravens has revealed a startling and little-known side to evolution – “reverse s...
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Birds offer clues to dino running
Chickens provide insight into how T. rex moved.
Do the bird: Queensland scientists studied how birds run in order to gain insights in dinosaur locomotion. Queensland...
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Ancient lizards legged it
South Korean discovery suggests lizards ran on two legs.
Among the many things that we think make human beings special is our upright stance and two-legged gait, known as “bi...