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.
A new study comparing invasive cane toads in Japan and Australia has found substantial changes in body size and shape have developed much more rapidly than suggested by long-held ideas of the pace of evolution. Researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2026
0
106
Although the genetic material of most living organisms is DNA, various self-replicating agents rely instead on RNA, including RNA viruses and viroids, which are infectious RNA molecules that are smaller and structurally simpler ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 21, 2026
0
24
Researchers have provided new insights into the evolutionary origin of sideways walking in crabs. Their study, published today as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, presents the largest comparative dataset on crab locomotion to ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2026
0
53
In the spring, ants are once again hard at work. Beyond their everyday presence, ants are also key model organisms in cutting-edge evolutionary genetics research, helping scientists understand how social behavior and cooperation ...
Evolution
Apr 20, 2026
0
19
Teeth are like tiny biological time capsules. They tell stories about ancient diets and environments long after their owners have died and landscapes have changed.
Evolution
Apr 20, 2026
0
19
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 ...
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) ...
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
0
20
Research has shed important new light on the enemies-turned-allies that allow bacteria to exchange genes, including those linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The insights, which expand our understanding of the major ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 16, 2026
0
16
"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
0
29
