Life history traits are integrated biological characteristics of an organism that determine the timing and allocation of resources to growth, reproduction, and survival, and thus shape its life cycle. They include age and size at maturity, fecundity, reproductive schedule (e.g., semelparity vs. iteroparity), offspring size and number, growth rate, and lifespan. As a composite process outcome of development, physiology, and behavior under genetic and environmental control, life history traits are central to life history theory, which models how natural selection optimizes trade-offs among these traits to maximize fitness in specific ecological contexts.
For all the diversity of the human condition, one experience is almost universally painful: adolescence. It's also unusual. Most other species pass from puberty to adulthood quickly, but humans linger for years in a transitional ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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791
A new study, published in Ecology and Evolution, shows that social living is associated with longer lifespan, but also that the benefits of sociality level off once animals move beyond living in pairs.
Evolution
May 22, 2026
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26
Human childbirth is commonly viewed as uniquely difficult and dangerous. The reason: The combination of bipedalism and large brains creates a tight fit between the baby and the birth canal. Research at the University of Vienna ...
Plants & Animals
May 12, 2026
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123
On the strictly protected island of Golem Grad in North Macedonia, the tortoises are destroying their own population. During prolonged courtship, aggressive males are exhausting the females and frequently pushing them off ...
Plants & Animals
May 10, 2026
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83
Metamorphosis, that profound transformation enabling certain animals to shift between habitats such as from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment, is generally viewed in terms of its benefits. A team of researchers from ...
Plants & Animals
May 8, 2026
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18
Male bumblebees are more active and flexible in behavior than female bees, new University of Chester–led research has found, after creating tasks to analyze how the insects explore, recognize colors and learn to earn rewards. ...
Plants & Animals
May 8, 2026
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11
New research shows that variation in mating behaviors, parental care and differences in ornamentation of the sexes in bird species is driven by demographics rather than vice versa. An international team of researchers from ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 22, 2026
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19
In a new study, appearing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, scientists selectively bred Japanese quails into two groups: laying either relatively large or small eggs. As the quails don't do much ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2026
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204
Between 280 and 200 million years ago, a group of animals evolved which would eventually give rise to mammals, including humans: the therapsids. They were first described more than 150 years ago, based on fossils from South ...
Evolution
Apr 12, 2026
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3307
Researchers have documented several cases of spatial orientation in tarantulas living both in trees and in underground burrows. Spatial orientation refers to the ability of an animal to understand where it is in three-dimensional ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2026
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19
