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Evolution news
How poison frogs built a chemical weapons system one evolutionary step at a time
Poison frogs are small and brightly colored amphibians that originate from Central and South America. As suggested by their name, these frogs can release highly toxic chemicals from their skin, which deter and neutralize ...
One of the world's rarest mice is adapting to climate change
A new study on climate adaptation in the Pacific pocket mouse—North America's most endangered mouse has been published in Science Advances. The research highlights a major challenge for endangered species, as many lack the ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 17, 2026
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Saving coral reefs will require ruthless selection over generations to beat future heat waves
Assisted evolution could help corals survive future heat waves, but careful trait choice and strong repeated selection will be needed for it to be effective. As global temperatures rise, marine heat waves are becoming more ...
Evolution
Apr 17, 2026
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If birds are fancy dancers, are they smarter, too?
Does a male bird with a long and complex courtship dance have superior cognitive abilities? Simply put, is a talented dancer a smarter bird? To answer the question, researchers at Université de Montréal studied the zebra ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 17, 2026
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Baby Neanderthals may have had a rapid growth spurt compared to modern babies
Baby Neanderthals may have been much larger and grown much more quickly than their modern Homo sapiens counterparts, according to a new study of the most intact Neanderthal infant skeleton. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) ...
Cyanobacteria surprise scientists with evolutionary shift
Photosynthetic bacteria helped shape planet Earth. Among them are cyanobacteria that produced the oxygen in the atmosphere and made complex life possible, captivating scientists for decades. Now, researchers at the Institute ...
Evolution
Apr 16, 2026
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Patagonia yields 155-million-year-old long-necked dinosaur with links to two famous lineages
A German–Argentine team of paleontologists led by SNSB dinosaur expert Oliver Rauhut has discovered a new long-necked dinosaur, Bicharracosaurus dionidei, from the Upper Jurassic period in Argentina, dating back approximately ...
Evolution
Apr 16, 2026
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Human sense of smell evolved with diets and lifestyle, genetic study suggests
From the ability to detect the smell of wet soil to the scent of ripe fruit, the human olfactory system has evolved over thousands of years in response to how people live and what they eat, according to a new genetic study ...
Evolution
Apr 16, 2026
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Cut off from making fat, parasitic wasps lose pheromones, fail to form eggs and cannot reproduce
The Easter holidays are over and many people have once again experienced firsthand how easily sweets can be converted into fat. Parasitic wasps are also capable of converting sugar into fat—a capability that long was thought ...
Evolution
Apr 15, 2026
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Museum drawer fossil reveals 200-million-year-old crocodile relative with a powerful bite
The fossil record has given us another new prehistoric species, named Eosphorosuchus lacrimosa (from the Greek personification of the morning star—the planet Venus), a member of the group called Crocodylomorpha, which includes ...
One battered skull exposes a lost killer from dinosaur dawn and a vanished bloodline
"You want to stick your finger in a dinosaur brain?" asked Simba Srivastava. Surrounded by cabinets full of ancient bones in the paleobiology lab, the Virginia Tech undergraduate student held out a lumpy, pockmarked fossil.
Evolution
Apr 15, 2026
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Wasps move in on ant-plant partnership, disrupting a 10‑million‑year mutualism
An international team of scientists from Queen Mary University of London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and other institutions has uncovered surprising new behavior in ...
Evolution
Apr 15, 2026
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How farming changed us: Ancient DNA reveals natural selection sped up in recent human evolution
A massive study of ancient DNA from nearly 16,000 people across more than 10,000 years in West Eurasia reveals that natural selection has shaped modern human genomes far more than previously thought.
Evolution
Apr 15, 2026
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Birds that put more energy into parenthood age faster and die younger, research shows
In a new study, appearing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, scientists selectively bred Japanese quails into two groups: laying either relatively large or small eggs. As the quails don't do much ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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Simple rules guide how proteins assemble and evolve, study finds
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have identified simple rules that explain how complex protein structures assemble correctly and remain functional over time, despite having many theoretically possible configurations. ...
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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Why did the stag beetle Prosopocoilus hachijoensis lose its ability to fly?
The stag beetle Prosopocoilus hachijoensis is the only flightless species of the genus Prosopocoilus in Japan. Researchers at University of Tsukuba investigated the mechanisms underlying the loss of flight by comparing this ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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Some lake bacteria survive by slashing half their genome and never looking back
Researchers at the University of Zurich have analyzed the genome of bacteria living in Lake Zurich to conclude that microbes employ two different strategies to colonize new habitats. Some acquire new traits, as expected—but ...
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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A built-in 'hairpin' mechanism in CRISPR-Cas13 prevents rogue RNAs
The CRISPR-Cas gene-editing system has long been the focus of research as a promising tool in genome editing. However, the emphasis has been on its underlying mechanisms and nucleases. In contrast, little research has examined ...
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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New genetic discovery reveals why some plants are born to survive in a warming world
A genetic master map of ancient grasses could be the key to future-proofing global food supplies, according to a new study revealing why some crops are naturally better at surviving climate change than others.
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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A tiny predator from ancient Spain just doubled the weasel family's evolutionary timeline
Weasels are small carnivores with a long body and short legs. They also have a stout skull and sharp teeth. These creatures, along with ferrets and minks, make up the Mustelinae subfamily. Until now, researchers believed ...
Evolution
Apr 14, 2026
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More news
Video shows that sunbirds suck, while hummingbirds don't
Research traces evolution of anglerfishes' famed fishing-rod lures
How the social lives of magpies shape their call repertoire
New spider species in the Amazon mimics parasitic fungus
How the female baboon body has the final say in sperm selection
Other news
Flat optics move toward market with 300-per-second metalens production
