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.
When you think of carnivorous marsupials, you probably picture the Tasmanian devil or perhaps a spotted-tailed quoll. But these famous predators are only the largest members of a remarkable family of marsupials called dasyurids.
Evolution
Jul 17, 2026
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Scientists have long thought humans have a uniquely difficult birth compared with other primates. And it's true that, from an evolutionary perspective, we face an obstetrical dilemma. As we evolved to walk on two feet, our ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 16, 2026
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Today, oceans host a large variety of fast, resilient marine predators, including tunas, mackerels and various other fish species. Many of these fish belong to a lineage known as Scombridae, whose members are characterized ...
Scientists have discovered that marsupial forelimbs (arms) develop much earlier before birth than previously thought, providing new insights into evolutionary innovation and biology.
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2026
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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
Jul 14, 2026
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25
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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A research team led by Professor Chaogu Zheng from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with scientists from Princeton University and Columbia University, has discovered ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 11, 2026
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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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145
Scientists have uncovered what may be the earliest evidence of "right-handedness" in the animal kingdom, dating back more than half a billion years. The discovery comes from the fossil record of Spriggina floundersi, an organism ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2026
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244
Much of the genome is made up of repetitive DNA sequences that trace back to ancient mobile elements, many of which have lost their ability to copy themselves into new locations but can still cause problems if they become ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 8, 2026
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