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Evolution news
Sharks, spines and speed: The hidden architecture behind different swimming styles revealed
"Shark Week," which kicks off this week, has captivated audiences for decades with stories of these powerful ocean predators. But the secret behind their extraordinary swimming abilities lies far deeper than their impressive ...
Plants & Animals
4 hours ago
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Saber-toothed cats' spinal tumors suggest inbred species struggled to survive
The fossilized spines of saber-toothed cats in the La Brea Tar Pits reveal evidence of an unexpectedly high prevalence of rare spinal nerve tumors, suggesting that the species became inbred just before extinction. These tumors, ...
Evolution
15 hours ago
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Scientists turn modern biobanks into a new window on human evolution
For more than a century, scientists have sought to reconstruct human evolution using diverse lines of evidence, including fossils, genetic variation across populations and ancient DNA. Building on these approaches, researchers ...
Evolution
Jul 24, 2026
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Why evolution never produced mammal teeth that slice and crush equally well
Evolution is all about trade-offs. Traits that may be beneficial in one situation may backfire in another. Over millions of years, species can become specialized for one way of living rather than being equally good at everything. ...
Plumage reflectance framework offers new insight into how birds evolved heat-controlling feathers
Birds can inhabit various environments with different climates and temperatures, ranging from cold polar regions to scorching hot deserts. To survive and thrive in these very different environments, they need to effectively ...
Differences in human and great ape laughter reveal clues to the origin of speech
Humans are not the only animals that communicate. Birds sing to attract mates, dolphins use signature whistles that identify individuals, and many primates produce complex vocalizations that help them coordinate their social ...
Evolution
Jul 24, 2026
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When mothers make the winners: How alpha female lineages dominate hyena clans
In mammals, males are usually stronger and more competitive than females. Males also show greater inequality in reproductive success—the number of offspring they produce—than females. In spotted hyenas, the opposite is true: ...
Evolution
Jul 23, 2026
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80‑million‑year‑old snake fossil sheds light on why lizards lost their limbs and started slithering
Snakes are everywhere in our legends and mythology. Yet for most of us, our blood runs cold whenever we encounter these strangely undulating, scaly tubes of muscle slithering through the leaf litter.
Evolution
Jul 23, 2026
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Human impacts rewrite the rules of island biodiversity around the globe
A new study reveals that human activities have fundamentally reshaped biodiversity patterns on islands across the globe, with important implications for how scientists understand ecology, evolution and conservation.
Evolution
Jul 23, 2026
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Portugal's ancient giant bears shrank over thousands of years and humans may be to blame
About 22,000 years ago, a giant brown bear lumbered across what is now Portugal. The creature weighed around 385 kg (about 850 pounds), making it one of the largest of its kind ever found, towering over the Iberian brown ...
New study into humans' closest ape relatives suggests physical touch can promote social harmony
Physical touch may be an important evolutionary tool to help manage social tension and keep the peace. That is according to a new study led by Durham University in the UK, analyzing behaviors of our closest ape relatives, ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2026
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New 'demon' cavefish lineage discovered in Alabama cave
For decades, scientists have crawled through Bobcat Cave on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, searching its dark pools and underground passages for rare life. The cave is home to the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, making it ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2026
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Unusual three-way bestows magnetic sense to single-celled organism
How do microorganisms orient themselves to find the optimal habitat? Scientists have thoroughly investigated so-called magnetotactic bacteria, which use the Earth's magnetic field as a biological compass. Some eukaryotic ...
Evolution
Jul 20, 2026
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Ancestral variation, not new mutations, may impact survival of species facing climate change
Research co-authored by an Oklahoma Museum of Natural History curator, her graduate student and an international team of scientists has shed new light on the evolutionary "toolkit" animals use to survive environmental change.
Plants & Animals
Jul 20, 2026
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Children and monkeys share common understanding of geometry
With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, nonhuman primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. However, some concepts—geometry, ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 20, 2026
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Wealthier North Carolina neighborhoods may be hotspots for insecticide-resistant tiger mosquitoes
The choices people make to control mosquitoes in their own backyards may be helping some of those mosquitoes survive the very insecticides meant to kill them, according to two new studies from North Carolina State University. ...
Evolution
Jul 20, 2026
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AI tool reveals climate shifts may have fueled bursts of bird evolution
University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climate shifts throughout Earth's ...
Evolution
Jul 20, 2026
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Seasonal gene switch locks fruit flies in winter mode
Researchers at Washington State University have discovered a molecular "winter lock" that keeps animals in a less active winter state until favorable conditions return, a discovery that could improve pest control and lead ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 18, 2026
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Reptile fossil found in Brazil helps shed light on the common origins of dinosaurs and crocodiles
Long before dinosaurs ruled the continents and modern crocodiles first appeared, their ancestors were already going through a decisive phase in their evolutionary history. It was in this ancient world, shortly after the greatest ...
Evolution
Jul 17, 2026
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Australia's most diverse marsupial predators have been hiding their origins for millions of years
When you think of carnivorous marsupials, you probably picture the Tasmanian devil or perhaps a spotted-tailed quoll. But these famous predators are only the largest members of a remarkable family of marsupials called dasyurids.
Evolution
Jul 17, 2026
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Other news
Fossil footprints reveal body size and group dynamics of 1.4-million-year-old human relative
Hidden DNA copying may give bacteria a faster route to antibiotic resistance
How flying together helps Andean condors save energy
Scientists pinpoint where cells first begin copying DNA
Quantum neural networks get their first hardware test
AI and robotics accelerate search for better gut microbiome therapies
Plants know when to grow—and when to hold back, study finds
Moth wings reveal an unexpected ability to smell plant chemicals
