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.
For ants, the ability to instantly distinguish nestmates from outsiders who might hijack the colony is crucial. Now, a new study shows that the system that ants use to determine who belongs in the colony is far more flexible ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 20, 2026
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The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers, and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same signals pleasing to ...
Evolution
Mar 19, 2026
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136
Extremophiles may well be tiny, but they are making a huge contribution to the health of our planet and our lives. A new review of these microorganisms, published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, explains how they ...
Photorespiration is a cellular conversion process in which plants release carbon dioxide and consume oxygen when exposed to light. Until now, it has been considered an especially wasteful by-product of photosynthesis. Yet ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2026
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6
Billions of mussels scorched and baby birds dropping from sweltering nests: North America's 2021 heat wave caused a cascade of ecological damage, some of it catastrophic, some unexpected, a new study showed Wednesday.
Ecology
Mar 15, 2026
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47
As the saying goes, there are plenty more fish in the sea—but climate change is rapidly challenging that notion, with fish stocks around the world under threat. New modeling from Monash University predicts how climate change ...
Ecology
Mar 13, 2026
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A potted scarlet monkeyflower would die within a few days without water. But multiple natural populations of the species survived an extreme, four-year drought in California, and researchers now know why: The flowers were ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
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25
Some of the smallest marine species are actually the most important because all other life depends on them. Phytoplankton are probably the most important, but just above them in the food chain are zooplankton. In Norway's ...
Ecology
Mar 12, 2026
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11
In 1974, philosopher Thomas Nagel posed a deceptively simple question: "What is it like to be a bat?" His point wasn't really about bats. He was offering a provocative challenge about the limits of understanding another mind: ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 11, 2026
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38
A research team led by scientists at the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, has completed the most extensive genetic sequencing of a jararaca viper to date. The focus of the study was the genome of the golden lancehead ...
Evolution
Mar 11, 2026
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