Biological evolution is the heritable change in characteristics of biological populations over successive generations, driven by mechanisms such as mutation, recombination, genetic drift, gene flow, and natural and sexual selection. It operates through changes in allele frequencies within gene pools, constrained and shaped by developmental, physiological, and ecological contexts. Evolutionary processes generate adaptation, diversification, and extinction, producing hierarchical patterns from microevolutionary shifts within populations to macroevolutionary dynamics among lineages. At the molecular level, evolution involves sequence variation, genomic rearrangements, and changes in gene regulation, which collectively underlie phenotypic diversity and the emergence of complex biological organization.
Humans have it. So does Drosophila. But not yeast. That "it" is a small pause at the start of gene activity—a brief molecular halt that may have helped life evolve from simple cells to complex animals.
Evolution
Dec 19, 2025
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Every living being must cope with a changing world—summer gives way to winter, one year it floods and the next is a drought. It's obvious that populations of plants and animals must constantly face new challenges, says University ...
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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The ancestors of our furry cats and dogs once looked similar to today's modern mongoose, a mammal with a long body and small, round ears. In fact, all members of the order Carnivora, which includes a variety of mammalian ...
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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Why did humans evolve the eyes we have today? While scientists can't go back in time to study the environmental pressures that shaped the evolution of the diverse vision systems that exist in nature, a new computational framework ...
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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A new study led by a researcher from the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University examined dinosaur fossils preserved with their feathers and found that these dinosaurs had lost ...
Evolution
Dec 16, 2025
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A paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, reports that Italian bears living in areas with many villages evolved and became smaller and less aggressive.
Evolution
Dec 15, 2025
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People typically think about evolution as a linear process where, within a species, the classic adage of "survival of the fittest" is constantly at play. New DNA mutations arise and get passed from parents to offspring. If ...
Evolution
Dec 12, 2025
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How do intermittent events like hurricanes impact natural selection? How do animals adapt to challenging weather? A University of Rhode Island professor has set out to track natural selection in the Anolis lizard over time ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 12, 2025
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New research reveals a link between rising temperatures and changes in polar bear DNA, which may be helping them adapt and survive in increasingly challenging environments.
Plants & Animals
Dec 11, 2025
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More than a decade after the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced, scientists are still working to understand how human-specific DNA changes shaped human evolution.
Evolution
Dec 10, 2025
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