Evolution, as a scientific topic, encompasses the study of heritable change in populations of organisms over successive generations, driven primarily by mechanisms such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, and recombination. It investigates how genetic variation arises and is differentially propagated, leading to adaptation, speciation, and macroevolutionary patterns observable in phylogenies and the fossil record. Research in this area integrates population genetics, comparative genomics, quantitative genetics, and developmental biology to elucidate processes shaping genetic architecture, fitness landscapes, and phenotypic diversity, as well as the tempo and mode of evolutionary change across different ecological and genomic contexts.
When a species lives in two distinct types of habitats, individuals with traits better suited to each habitat will thrive and reproduce, naturally selecting descendants with those traits. But what about mobile aquatic species ...
Evolution
Mar 5, 2026
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18
A new study published in Science is challenging long-held assumptions about how we measure genetic risk in endangered species. Researchers analyzed whole genomes from hundreds of koalas, finding that populations previously ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2026
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13
A new study suggests that decades of reported gains in crop yields from plant breeding may be significantly overstated, challenging a common method used worldwide to measure genetic progress. The international research team ...
Ecology
Mar 4, 2026
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16
Few pests eat away at farm profitability as much as soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Causing at least $1.5 billion in yield losses annually, it's soybean's single biggest threat. Unfortunately, soybean's most effective tool, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 3, 2026
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9
Anyone who has seen a hummingbird poking her beak deep into a trumpet creeper blossom, or a honeyeater using its brush-tipped tongue to extract nectar from eucalyptus flowers, has witnessed something that, from a human perspective, ...
Evolution
Feb 26, 2026
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48
Fish caught in the same trawl and sold under the same name may in fact have significant genetic differences. Beneath the surface of the Skagerrak lies a biological diversity that is rarely seen in fishmongers. "If management ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 26, 2026
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11
Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record approximately 40,000 years ago. Their extinction was a gradual process over thousands of years, and theories as to why include competition with modern humans and rapid climate ...
Every living organism has its own genetic "blueprint": the source code for how it grows, functions and reproduces. This blueprint is known as a genome. When scientists sequence a genome, they identify and put in order the ...
Ecology
Feb 17, 2026
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11
Cucumber is an economically important crop worldwide, ranking as the third most-produced vegetable after tomatoes and onions. Yet breeding improved varieties—plants that are more resilient, produce better-shaped fruit, or ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 10, 2026
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22
All life on Earth shares a common ancestor that lived roughly four billion years ago. This so-called "last universal common ancestor" (LUCA) represents the most ancient organism that researchers can study. Previous research ...
Evolution
Feb 5, 2026
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