Biological adaptation is the evolutionary process through which heritable traits that enhance an organism’s fitness become more prevalent in a population over generations under specific environmental conditions. It operates primarily via natural selection acting on genetic variation, including mutations, recombination, and gene flow, and is constrained by developmental, genetic, and phylogenetic factors. Adaptations can be morphological, physiological, or behavioral and are typically characterized by increased survival or reproductive success in a given niche. The process is dynamic and context-dependent, such that traits advantageous in one environment may be neutral or deleterious in another, contributing to diversification and speciation.
Within every muscle of every living species with a backbone, a protein called myosin tugs on a partner protein to generate a muscle contraction. This function, discovered in mammals a century ago, has been presumed by scientists ...
Evolution
11 hours ago
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11
New research involving Queen Mary University of London reveals that amphibians can change what they eat to cope with rising temperatures, but that this natural survival strategy has limits.
Plants & Animals
12 hours ago
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7
Plants do not wait hours to respond to intense sunlight—they react within minutes. Researchers at Bielefeld University and the Australian National University have discovered a new signaling pathway that enables plants to ...
Molecular & Computational biology
13 hours ago
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3
Pollinators—including bees, flies, wasps, moths, butterflies and some nectar-loving birds—are a cornerstone of our natural environment. By helping plants reproduce, they keep our ecosystems healthy and ensure we can grow ...
Ecology
Jul 13, 2026
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10
Nature is beautiful, powerful and essential. But nature is not always gentle. The same biological world that gives rise to forests, coral reefs and human life also produces infections, cancer, genetic disease, crop blights ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 12, 2026
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12
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii alters the activity of about one-third of its protein-coding genes in response even to moderate temperature changes. The study, ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 10, 2026
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15
A new study in PLOS Biology of 133 species of flies, mosquitoes and their relatives shows that most species fly in surprisingly similar ways. Physical and aerodynamic laws shape the evolution of their flight behavior more ...
Evolution
Jul 10, 2026
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141
Facing both climate change and a crashing pollinator population, plants may be evolving to attract pollinators rather than adapting to a warming climate, and the trade-off has resulted in a steep decline in plants' rate of ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2026
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356
To people, salt is a kitchen staple. But to crops, too much of it can be devastating. Across coastal regions and irrigated agricultural land, salt is accumulating in soils, making it harder for plants to absorb water and ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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5
If you visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, on the edge of London, you will see a brightly painted skeleton of a dead oak tree. The tree, known as the climate-changed oak, succumbed in the heat wave of 2022. Instead of ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
0
15
