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.
Dogs have long been known to have smaller brains than the wolves they descended from. But when they started to shrink has been a matter of some debate. New research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, which ...
A new study by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has revealed significant cryptic diversity within two-toed sloths (Choloepus) in Amazonia, challenging the long-established ...
Ecology
Apr 27, 2026
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A new study reveals how a remarkable group of plants on the Galápagos Islands developed their diverse leaf shapes—offering unique insight into evolution at the genetic level. A large international team of researchers has ...
Evolution
Apr 27, 2026
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They already have the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, lay eggs like reptiles and have venom like snakes.
Plants & Animals
Apr 25, 2026
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A pioneering project led by researchers from the University of Stirling and the Max Planck Institute has opened the door for new insights into the evolutionary origins of human intelligence, by compiling the largest dataset ...
Evolution
Apr 25, 2026
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From butterflies to peacocks, bold circular "eyespots" are among nature's most eye-catching patterns. But why do they appear in some animals and not others? A new study of skates and rays finally provides an answer—and it ...
Evolution
Apr 24, 2026
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How did the earliest life on Earth build complex biological machinery with so few tools? A new study explores how the simplest building blocks of proteins—once limited to just half of today's amino acids—could still form ...
Evolution
Apr 23, 2026
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Genome duplication probably gave biodiversity a decisive evolutionary boost. A Chinese-German research team led by Axel Meyer from the University of Konstanz has now investigated the early phases of the process known as rediploidization. ...
Evolution
Apr 22, 2026
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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
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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
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