In biological sciences, morphology is the branch that studies the form, external structure, and macroscopic organization of organisms and their parts, independent of function. It encompasses comparative morphology, which analyzes homologous structures across taxa; functional morphology, which relates structural features to mechanical or biomechanical constraints; and developmental morphology, which examines changes in form during ontogeny. Morphological data, including body plans, organ systems, and patterning of tissues, are central to systematics, phylogenetic inference, and taxonomy, and are integrated with molecular and genetic information to elucidate evolutionary relationships, phenotypic variation, and constraints on organismal design.
An international research team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) investigated how the shape of black corals ...
Ecology
9 hours ago
0
5
University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climate shifts throughout Earth's ...
Evolution
Jul 20, 2026
0
20
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
0
26
Fossil finds are exciting moments that sometimes introduce the world to an ancient mammal or dinosaur that existed millions of years ago. But a longstanding problem in paleontology is that fossils are often incomplete, and ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 16, 2026
0
34
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
0
10
On July 14, 2026, "Gus," one of the most complete specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, went to an as-yet-unidentified buyer for $50.1 million. This auction at Sotheby's set a record for the most valuable fossil ever sold. Another ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 15, 2026
0
17
Tyrannosaurus rex was a giant of the prehistoric world, standing up to 13 feet (4 meters) tall and weighing around 9 tons (8 tonnes). So you might expect that its hatchlings were also a considerable size.
For more than 150 years, fossils of Jurassic fish scattered across Europe's museums were studied and drawn by generations of scientists. However, when a paleontologist decided to shine an ultraviolet light on them, a hidden ...
Roughly 50,000 years ago, a kangaroo unlike any alive today lived in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 10, 2026
0
53
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
0
243
