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 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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An evolutionary "trap" has haunted crested and marbled newts for 25 million years: Leiden researchers have uncovered a mysterious DNA error that should not be able to arise—yet persists all the same. How is that possible? ...
Evolution
Dec 9, 2025
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64
New research conducted by paleontologists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin reveals a burst in jaw variety in the earliest amniotes—which includes the ancestors of all reptiles, ...
Evolution
Dec 4, 2025
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In southern Africa, a group of people lived in partial isolation for hundreds of thousands of years. This is shown in a new study based on analyses of the genomes of 28 people who lived between 10,200 and 150 years ago in ...
Evolution
Dec 3, 2025
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223
Complex life began to develop earlier, and over a longer span of time, than previously believed, a new study has revealed. The research sheds new light on the conditions needed for early organisms to evolve and challenges ...
Evolution
Dec 3, 2025
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