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Evolution news
Climate change: Scientists discover differences in the way forest and desert flies process external temperature
Tiny, cold-blooded animals like flies depend on their environment to regulate body temperature, making them ideal "canaries in the mine" for gauging the impact of climate change on the behavior and distribution of animal ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 5, 2025
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Bonobos and chimps offer clues to how our early ancestors had sex for social purposes
We don't just have sex to reproduce—new research suggests that using sex to manage social tension could be a trait that existed in the common ancestor of humans and apes six million years ago.
Plants & Animals
Mar 5, 2025
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New fossil discovery of an early human relative reveals that it walked upright, just like humans
Paranthropus robustus was a species of prehistoric human that lived in South Africa about 2 million years ago, alongside Homo ergaster, a direct ancestor of modern people. Fossils of Paranthropus robustus are found in abundance ...
Evolution
Mar 5, 2025
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Deciphering the evolutionary transition from reptilian jaw to mammalian nose
The face is one of the most distinctive features of vertebrates, diverged widely among species while maintaining a highly complex anatomical structure. Notably, mammals have a "nose" that can actively sniff out smells, separate ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 4, 2025
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Fossil study reveals oldest larval eyes with high-resolution vision
Adult insects are known for their fascinating and complex eyes, which allow them to accomplish remarkable sensory feats when performing functions such as searching for food or mates. In many insect larvae, however, these ...
Evolution
Mar 4, 2025
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Testing the Out of Africa model in East Eurasian genomic origins
University of Tokyo researchers have investigated the origin and dispersal scenarios of Homo sapiens into East Eurasia. The team examined how migration routes, genetic contributions from archaic humans, and environmental ...
Predicting SARS-CoV-2 variant infectivity with biophysical principles
When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, we saw how quickly the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolved. New variants emerged with mutations that increased transmissibility or helped the virus evade our immune systems. But predicting which ...
Introducing Evo 2, a predictive and generative genomic AI for all domains of life
Researchers at the Arc Institute, Stanford University, and NVIDIA have developed Evo 2, an advanced AI model capable of predicting genetic variations and generating genomic sequences across all domains of life.
Mollusk family tree helps resolve long-standing evolutionary questions
An international team of experts has resolved long-standing questions about the evolutionary history of mollusks, one of the most diverse zoological groups on the planet. The study, published in Science, reconstructs the ...
Evolution
Feb 28, 2025
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When birds lose the ability to fly, their bodies change faster than their feathers, scientists discover
More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a study in the journal Evolution, researchers compared the feathers and bodies ...
Evolution
Feb 27, 2025
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Fish teeth show how ease of innovation enables rapid evolution
It's not what you do, it's how readily you do it. Rapid evolutionary change might have more to do with how easily a key innovation can be gained or lost rather than with the innovation itself, according to new work by biologists ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 26, 2025
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Earliest evidence for humans in rainforests discovered
Rainforests are a major world biome which humans are not thought to have inhabited until relatively recently. New evidence now shows that humans lived in rainforests at least 150 thousand years ago in Africa, the home of ...
Evolution
Feb 26, 2025
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Humans have the earliest jawed fish to thank for their flexible joints, study suggests
The efficient architecture of our joints, which allows our skeletons to be flexible and sturdy, originated among our most ancient jawed fish ancestors, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology ...
Evolution
Feb 25, 2025
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Researchers delve into one of biology's scientific frontiers—by studying studies
Turning the pandemic into potential, hundreds of biologists worldwide—including two researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University—joined forces to answer a troubling question: If two biologists analyze the same data, ...
Evolution
Feb 25, 2025
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Male mosquitofish that perform better at problem-solving have a higher chance of mating, research shows
The Beatles said it best: Love is all you need. And according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU), the same is true in the animal kingdom. Well, at least for mosquitofish—a matchstick-sized fish ...
Evolution
Feb 25, 2025
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Interspecies alliances: Research examines cognitive underpinnings of cross-species collaborations
Some animals are capable of cooperating with members of other species. An interdisciplinary team involving the biologist Eduardo Sampaio from the University of Konstanz explores the cognitive underpinnings of such cross-species ...
Evolution
Feb 25, 2025
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Life in the fast, or slow, lane: How environmental variability influences birds' survival and reproduction strategies
Birds worldwide make strategic decisions about how they live based on their environmental conditions. Some live fast, die young, and leave as many chicks as possible. Others live long and prosper by not breeding. A new study ...
Evolution
Feb 25, 2025
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Accidental discovery may hint at answer to a chicken-or-egg question on evolution
For biochemists, it's the which-came-first question: oxygen production by photosynthesis or oxygen consumption by aerobic metabolism?
Evolution
Feb 24, 2025
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Study shows bigger animals get more cancer, defying decades-old belief
Elephants, giraffes, pythons and other large species have higher cancer rates than smaller ones like mice, bats, and frogs, a new study has shown, overturning a 45-year-old belief about cancer in the animal kingdom.
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2025
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Discovery reveals giant flying squirrel once soared over Southern Appalachia
A giant flying squirrel—about the size of today's house cats—once soared through the skies over what is now Southern Appalachia, gliding above rhinos, mastodons and red pandas.
Evolution
Feb 24, 2025
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More news
Super genes: Does evolution need them?
Research reveals function of red stigmas in wind-pollinated flowers
Other news
Private lunar lander touches down on the moon, but its status is unknown
Bacterial 'jumping genes' can target and control chromosome ends
Starfish skeletons provide key insights into bone evolution
European rocket successfully carries out first commercial mission
Salt-based catalysts enable selective production of mirror-image molecules
Laser light made into a supersolid for the first time
