https://phys.org/biology-news/evolution/ en-us The latest science news on evolution The average person takes thousands of steps each day, instinctively walking heel-to-toe. Although they hardly register them, those consistent heel-first strides are more distinctive to humans than previously thought and allowed early hominins to walk farther and more efficiently, but at the cost of higher impact forces on bones and joints, according to a new study led by a researcher at Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-heel-early-humans-high-impact.html Evolution Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:00:04 EDT news708011198 New in JNeurosci, Ning Liu, from the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, explored whether brain structures for self-processing are conserved across primates, including humans, chimpanzees and macaques. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-brain-primates.html Evolution Mon, 07 Sep 2026 13:00:07 EDT news707742061 How do related proteins develop different functions? This is the question investigated by a research team involving Kiel University, DESY and the Center for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB). Led by Holger Sondermann, professor at Kiel University and head of the Structural Microbiology group at DESY, the researchers reconstructed the common ancestor of two bacterial enzymes and produced the long-extinct protein in the laboratory. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-reconstructed-ancient-protein-bacterial-enzymes.html Evolution Mon, 07 Sep 2026 10:40:04 EDT news707992561 Scientists have discovered that one of the most unusual creatures in the animal kingdom is far more diverse and evolutionarily complex than previously known. An international team led by the University of Göttingen has reconstructed the evolutionary history of branching marine worms—rare annelids that live hidden inside sea sponges and whose bodies branch repeatedly into multiple posterior ends. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-decades-museum-specimens-reveal-extraordinary.html Plants & Animals Mon, 07 Sep 2026 09:20:01 EDT news707989621 With their slender bodies and long front legs, Miracinonyx trumani—often nicknamed the "American cheetah"—was long thought to be a North American analog of the African big cat. But in a new study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers reveal that the extinct cat was more closely related to pumas. Some populations living near the Arctic preyed almost exclusively on fish, challenging the long-held assumption that these "cheetahs" chased fast-running prey, such as pronghorns. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-extinct-american-cheetah.html Evolution Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:00:01 EDT news707573172 A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has overturned decades of assumptions about Miracinonyx trumani, the extinct predator popularly known as the American cheetah. By analyzing nuclear paleogenomes and stable isotopes from fossils found as far north as the Yukon, scientists have discovered that this iconic cat was not a true cheetah but a highly adaptable relative of the puma that specialized in eating fish to survive in the Arctic. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-cheetah-ancient-dna-reveals-arctic.html Evolution Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:00:07 EDT news707572984 Two tiny ant fossils recovered in southern Saskatchewan are helping scientists better understand the evolutionary history of modern ants. Ant fossils dating from 72–56 million years ago are rare. What happened to insects such as ants during this period that saw a mass extinction wipe out all non-bird dinosaurs? How did that event reshape their world? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-fossils-reveal-big-insights.html Evolution Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:20:01 EDT news707668441 On the windswept coasts of Oregon and California lives an unassuming little plant that can withstand salty blasts that kill its inland counterparts. It's called the yellow monkeyflower. Now, researchers are beginning to understand how it manages to thrive in conditions that leave other plants burned, brown and withered. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-unassuming-wildflower-salt-laden-air.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:50:01 EDT news707674442 About 200 million years ago, furry, little egg-laying creatures evolved the ability to feed their offspring with a secretion from special glands: milk. Their evolutionary journey continued, and by about 160 million years ago, the first mammals with a real placenta had come into being. Instead of laying eggs, they gave birth to live young that had been connected directly to their mother via a placenta during pregnancy, allowing the exchange of oxygen, nutrients and waste products. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-early-mammals-werent-loners-pairs.html Evolution Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:00:02 EDT news707660041 The pigments that give beets their red color may have helped a major group of flowering plants repeatedly adapt to dry environments, setting the stage for the evolution of traits that allowed plants to adapt to some of the harshest environments on Earth, according to a University of Michigan study. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pigment-beets-linked-harsh-environments.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:00:12 EDT news707656081 The enzymes found in modern organisms are complex proteins, often with multiple folded substructures and specialized catalytic sites. Proteins are encoded by genes. Tracing the history of enzymes across all living organisms through gene comparisons leads to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), a hypothetical organism that existed around 4 billion years ago and is believed to be the ancestor of life forms on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-metabolic-networks-clues-earliest-stages.html Evolution Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:40:03 EDT news707652681 We often think of microbes as organisms that live around us, like the Salmonella bacteria and flu viruses that cause illness. But some of our most intimate relationships are with the microbes living inside us. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-fossil-china-reveals-animalmicrobe.html Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:20:08 EDT news707579761 Why do some groups of organisms contain thousands of species while others have only a handful? Evolutionary biologists have spent decades trying to answer this question using mathematical models that estimate how biological traits and environmental factors influence the formation and extinction of species. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-biology-mathematics-hidden-symmetries-widely.html Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:05 EDT news707565841 Scientists believed there were only two species of hornerid bryozoans in Aotearoa New Zealand, but new research shows several more have been secretly evolving and thriving in the nation's southern waters. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-species-million-year-marine-group.html Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:00:04 EDT news707556770 Many animal species, ranging from peacocks and birds of paradise to some lizards, fish and beetles, display physical features or ornaments that can attract potential mates. These ornaments can include colorful plumage, elaborate tails or fins, inflatable throat sacs and elongated eye stalks. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-peacock-displays-outpace-antlers-tusks.html Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:20:05 EDT news707483354 New research from the University of St Andrews has developed a novel hypothesis of how firelight was critical to the evolution of sophisticated storytelling. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-firelight-human-storytelling-social-hours.html Evolution Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:10:05 EDT news707398144 The temporal structure of speech rhythms resembles that of the communication signals of numerous animal species. This is shown by a study conducted by a research team from the Leibniz Center for General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the University of Regensburg and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Aix-Marseille University. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tune-nature-human-speech-rhythm.html Evolution Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:40:03 EDT news707484422 Communication between cells in plants, animals and humans takes place via specialized connecting structures. An international team led by biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and involving the University of Tübingen has now discovered that the regulation of very similar structures was already present in multicellular bacteria, implying that it must have originated much earlier in the course of evolution. In their paper published in The EMBO Journal, the researchers describe how the exchange of calcium plays a central role in bacteria, just as it does in humans. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ancient-bacteria-intercellular-communication-humans.html Evolution Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:00:05 EDT news707406962 What did dinosaurs eat? Teeth provide important clues to understanding the ecology of dinosaurs, which became extinct approximately 66 million years ago. Their shape, structure and patterns of wear can help scientists reconstruct how these animals obtained and processed their food. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-qa-dinosaur-teeth-reveal-diet.html Evolution Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:00:09 EDT news707412242 Atlantic herring travel in massive schools that can contain hundreds of millions—and sometimes even billions—of fish. While this abundance is characteristic of one of the most successful vertebrates on Earth, it also creates ideal conditions for viruses, bacteria and parasites to spread. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-extraordinary-immune-gene-diversity-atlantic.html Plants & Animals Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:40:02 EDT news707392808 An international team led by Canadian researchers has found evidence explaining why snake embryos form a curious spiral. This ability to coil as embryos enables snakes to hatch with the longest bodies of all vertebrates. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-caught-mystery-snake-embryos.html Plants & Animals Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:00:09 EDT news707125321 A surprising discovery by Technion researchers sheds new light on the dynamics of evolution. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study shows that when an organism has several evolutionary paths available with equal fitness, the path it follows is not necessarily chosen at random. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-evolution-favors-flatter-paths-outcomes.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:40:01 EDT news707050760 The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of a new phase in the diversification of terrestrial biota. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-texas-fossil-reveals-early-insects.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news707064181 How has offspring dependence on parents evolved over the course of evolution? Researchers at the University of Bayreuth, in collaboration with Kyoto University, Japan, have investigated one possible mechanism by studying the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Their new study shows that parents do more than simply provide care for their offspring: They also improve the entire developmental environment in which their young grow up, a factor that may itself have influenced evolutionary change. The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-parental-evolution-beetle.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news707061962 Why do humans rely on XY chromosomes to determine sex, while birds use ZW—and many reptiles use neither, letting temperature decide instead? Sex determination is remarkably diverse across the animal kingdom. In genotypic sex determination (GSD), sex is encoded in the genome: XX individuals are female and XY males in humans and most mammals, while in the ZW system, found in birds and some reptiles, males are ZZ and females ZW. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-xy-zw-gecko-chromosomes-reveal.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:00:08 EDT news707044201 Using a new combination of computational tools to analyze ancient DNA, Yale researchers have discovered two ancient, extinct giant tortoise lineages that once lived on the Galapagos Islands. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-degraded-dna-reveals-extinct-galapagos.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:40:03 EDT news707039701 As climate change drives more frequent and intense heat waves, plants face growing challenges to survive and remain productive. Researchers at VIB, Ghent University, KU Leuven and their international collaborators have uncovered an evolutionary innovation that helps plants cope with high temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-evolved-molecular-cope.html Plants & Animals Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:40:01 EDT news706967821 Capuchin monkeys hunt prey when fruits and vegetables become scarce, potentially mirroring the habits of human ancestors, according to a study published in PLOS One by Susana Carvalho (Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique), Noemi Spagnoletti (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy) and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fruits-veggies-scarce-monkeys-meat.html Plants & Animals Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:00:26 EDT news706953420 The sights and sounds of the Jurassic era are long gone, and we will never know for sure what that ancient world looked and sounded like. Fossils can offer clues, and reconstructions can give us a sense of the noises some animals might have made. Now scientists have turned their attention to insects and reconstructed the calls of Jurassic relatives of modern-day crickets and katydids (grasshopper-like insects). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-reconstructed-jurassic-insect-evoke-million.html Evolution Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:50:01 EDT news706966915 When you look at someone, you usually look at their face. It serves as one of the most important sources of social information in primates, so the evolution of face perception has attracted considerable scientific attention. While an abundance of this research has centered on humans and other great apes, very little has focused on gibbons. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-eyes-gibbons-noninvasive-eye-tracking.html Plants & Animals Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:40:12 EDT news706958101