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 tropical butterfly has evolved an ingenious anti-aging strategy by delaying the aging process, enabling it to live far longer than its closest relatives, according to a new University of Bristol-led study published in Nature ...
Evolution
Jun 16, 2026
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"Love makes fools of all of us," wrote 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. A moment spent watching the pigeons at your local park suggests he was right: males with puffed-up, shimmering necks hop, pirouette, ...
Evolution
Jun 15, 2026
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15
Researchers have found evidence of a previously unknown branch of the marsupial family tree, a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how Australia's unique mammals evolved. Published in the Journal of Paleontology, ...
Evolution
Jun 15, 2026
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67
Few animals put on a show quite like manakins. In the rainforests of Central and South America, males of these small tropical birds, with strikingly bright plumage, often gather at communal display sites (leks), where they ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 14, 2026
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65
Long before vertebrates walked on land, millipedes had the place to themselves. Hundreds of millions of years before dinosaurs arrived, these early decomposers were helping establish Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. But despite ...
Ecology
Jun 12, 2026
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114
A recent study by Ruibao Li and Jennah Dharamshi published in Nature may help us understand the beginnings of animal evolution billions of years ago. These findings are the result of a collaboration among researchers at Indiana ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 11, 2026
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26
A review article now published in Nature Reviews Genetics brings together evolutionary theory, comparative genomics and large-scale human genetics to explain why we age and why aging rates differ among individuals and species. ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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130
A new Yale-led study provides one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses to date of genetic variation in human populations in Oceania, filling a major gap in representation in genomics research. Despite harboring ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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104
Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered 45 new toxins produced by Salmonella bacteria, some of which are associated with foodborne infections. The study was conducted at the Center for Research ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 11, 2026
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8
It has taken only a few decades: The wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) has expanded its range from the Mediterranean region to northern Europe—even as far as southern Finland. In doing so, it has adapted genetically much faster ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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