Evolution(Page 5)

The latest science on how life has adapted and changed over generations—and how new species come to be.

Latest in Evolution

An illustration of the rhynchosaur Bentonyx from the Middle Triassic of Devon, about 245 million years ago.
Science

This ancient reptile had a deadly vegetarian diet

By Laura Baisas

The California two-spot octopus (Bimaculoides) is the first octopus species to have its genome sequenced and is very helpful for studying cephalopods.
Environment

Octopuses rewrite their own RNA to survive freezing temperatures

By Laura Baisas

A monkey laying on a tree smiling.
Environment

Super semen could be one reason why primates evolved to masturbate

By Laura Baisas

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.
Science

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.

By Katarina Zimmer / Undark

A mother and baby golden snub nosed monkey. These primates live in mountainous regions of southwestern China. Longer periods of maternal care may have helped them form more complex societies.
Environment

Chilly climates may have forged stronger social bonds in some primates

By Laura Baisas

Reassembled partial skeleton Ambulator keanei with silhouette demonstrating advanced adaptations for quadrupedal, graviportal walking.
Environment

This 500-pound Australian marsupial had feet made for walkin’

By Laura Baisas

A walker in sneakers, with the bottom of the shoe visible.
Health

Evolution of human foot arches put the necessary pep in our upright steps

By Laura Baisas

A sloth hangs in a tree in Costa Rica. The mammals have the slowest digestive system of any animal on Earth. It can take sloths two weeks to digest an entire meal, and they sleep about 20 hours a day to conserve energy.
Environment

Sloth schedules are surprisingly flexible

By Laura Baisas

A spiny mouse standing on a rock. Spiny mice can regenerate skin, muscle, nerves, spinal cord, and possibly cardiac tissue.
Environment

African spiny mouse joins a small but mighty group of bony plated mammals

By Laura Baisas

Siler collingwoodi is a colorful, ant-mimicking spider found in China and Japan.
Environment

This spider pretends to be an ant, but not well enough to avoid being eaten

By Laura Baisas

A blue butterfly on a pink flowering plant.
Environment

A ‘butterfly tree of life’ reveals the origins of these beautiful insects

By Laura Baisas

Extinct ‘thunder beasts’ went from mini to massive in the blink of an evolutionary eye
Environment

Extinct ‘thunder beasts’ went from mini to massive in the blink of an evolutionary eye

By Laura Baisas

A bat sea star on a dark background.
Environment

The blueprints for early organs may be hiding in sea stars

By Laura Baisas

The cast of a Neanderthal skull on display at the Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology in Germany on January 24, 2023.
Science

How Neanderthal genetic material could influence nose shapes to this day

By Laura Baisas

Woolly mammoth tusks in dawn light on Wrangel Island, northeast Siberia, where the female mammoth tusk used in the testosterone study had been found several years earlier.
Environment

Male woolly mammoths had hormone-fueled bouts of aggression

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of the organisms that lived in the Castle Bank community.
Environment

Fossil trove in Wales is a 462-million-year-old world of wee sea creatures

By Laura Baisas

Red cherry shaped as butt on orange and purple ombre background
Science

A scientific exploration of big juicy butts

By Rachel Feltman

The oldest chili pepper specimen may be from present-day Colorado
Science

The oldest chili pepper specimen may be from present-day Colorado

By Sara Kiley Watson

How deadly amphibians survive their own poisons
Environment

How deadly amphibians survive their own poisons

By Geoffrey Giller/Knowable Magazine

An adult male and adult female California sea lion sit on a beach surrounded by pups.
Environment

Male California sea lions have gotten bigger and better at fighting

By Laura Baisas

Evolution of human brain size shown with brass sculptures at a kids science museum in China
Environment

We probably have big brains because we got lucky

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Two mudskippers fighting in the mud, with eyes and pectoral fins exposed.
Environment

Mudskippers blink—and that’s a huge evolutionary clue

By Laura Baisas

A male chimpanzee named Frodo frowns.
Environment

Nice chimps finish last—so why aren’t all of them mean?

By Laura Baisas

A carnivorous Sarracenia plant growing in the wild.
Environment

Carnivorous pitcher plants may use tempting aromas to lure prey to their death

By Laura Baisas

Cannabis plant under purple weed grow light
Science

On 420, learn more about weed with these carefully cultivated science stories

By Jamie Dickman

An orb weaver spider spins a web in a forest.
Environment

Spider glue might evolve faster than the spiders themselves

By Laura Baisas

The mysterious ‘Tully monster’ didn’t have a spine after all
Science

The mysterious ‘Tully monster’ didn’t have a spine after all

By Jamie Dickman

An artistic rendering of the open woodland habitat reconstruction at Moroto II with Morotopithecus bishopi vertically climbing with infant on back and Mount Moroto, an active, in background.
Environment

A plant-based diet full of leaves may have helped apes stand upright

By Laura Baisas

Skeleton of paratype of Icaronycteris gunnelli, the oldest bat skeletons ever found.
Environment

Oldest bat skeleton ever found by paleontologists finally has a name

By Laura Baisas

Luna moth resting on a tree.
Science

The alluring tail of the Luna moth is surprisingly useless for finding a mate

By Jamie Dickman

Woolly mammoths evolved tiny ears over 700,000 years in Siberia
Environment

Woolly mammoths evolved tiny ears over 700,000 years in Siberia

By Laura Baisas

A purple hand reaching to touch a green tongue of an orange person with their mouth open frowning because they're tasting something digsuting
Science

Why food tastes wildly different to different people

By Julia Craven

An adult elephant walks with two juvenile elephants.
Environment

Scientists may have figured out why elephants exhibit complex emotions

By Laura Baisas

An ostrich inspects eggs in a nest.
Environment

Troodons laid eggs in communal nests just like modern ostriches

By Laura Baisas

A juvenile Edmontosaurus disappears into the enormous, lipped mouth of Tyrannosaurus.
Science

Scaly lips may have hidden the T-rex’s fearsome teeth

By Laura Baisas

A baby song thrush bird looks up from the forest floor.
Environment

Postmortem poop can teach us a lot about the avian gut microbiome

By Laura Baisas

The parking lot outside a Buc-ee’s store in Temple, Texas.
Environment

A 15-million-year-old beaver was just named after an iconic convenience store

By Laura Baisas

Desert daisy tricks male flies with sexy evolutionary deception
Environment

Desert daisy tricks male flies with sexy evolutionary deception

By Laura Baisas

A white-tailed jackrabbit in it's winter white fur.
Environment

Jackrabbit’s color-changing fur may prepare them for climate change

By Laura Baisas

Ankylosaur in blue floatie and life vest riding the ocean waves. Prehistoric trees and a full moon are in the background. Illustrated.
Environment

Why dinosaurs were terrible swimmers

By Riley Black

It’s still a mystery how snails ended up scattered around the globe
Environment

It’s still a mystery how snails ended up scattered around the globe

By Thom van Dooren/MIT Press Reader

An illustration of Thylacosmilus atrox, an extinct marsupial with giant canine teeth,
Environment

With bulging eyes and a killer smile, this sabertooth was an absolute nightmare

By Laura Baisas

A Wedge-tailed Eagle, a large vulture native to Australia.
Environment

An extinct 10-foot-long eagle could pick up kangaroos with its terrifying talons

By Laura Baisas

Red and speckled blue and black poison dart frog looking up from a light green leaf
Environment

Poisonous animals probably took their sweet time developing unappetizing bright colors

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

This dinosaur’s record-breaking neck defies the laws of nature
Science

This dinosaur’s record-breaking neck defies the laws of nature

By Sara Kiley Watson

Gorillas like to scramble their brains by spinning around really fast
Environment

Gorillas like to scramble their brains by spinning around really fast

By Sara Kiley Watson

Fungus gnat on a white flower petal
Environment

Flies evolved before dinosaurs—and survived an apocalyptic world after the Permian extinction

By Sara Kiley Watson

A warm of bees on a honeycomb.
Environment

Older bees teach younger bees the ‘waggle dance’

By Laura Baisas

This fossilized ‘ancient animal’ might be a bunch of old seaweed
Science

This fossilized ‘ancient animal’ might be a bunch of old seaweed

By Sara Kiley Watson

A white-bellied woodstar hummingbird flying. Their colorful throat feathers are believed to help them find a mate.
Environment

This hybrid hummingbird’s colorful feathers are a genetic puzzle

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of Hyneria udlezinye, a large, predatory fish, with smaller fish in the Waterloo Farm ecosystem in South Africa about 360 million years ago.
Environment

A gator-faced fish shaped like a torpedo stalked rivers 360 million years ago

By Laura Baisas

A woma pythron, a large, nocturnal species of snake on the ground by a piece of wood.
Environment

Snakes can actually hear really well

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s impression of two theropod species discovered by scientists at the University of Southampton in 2021, Ceratosuchops inferodios and Riparovenator milnerae.
Science

What was going on inside of this spinosaur’s brain?

By Laura Baisas

Two orca whales swim in the ocean with mountains in the distance.
Environment

Raising male offspring comes at a high price for orca mothers

By Laura Baisas

An uncooked brown crab sitting among among seaweed and water.
Science

Neanderthals caught and cooked crabs 90,000 years ago

By Laura Baisas

A wolf-like puppy surrounded by other puppies tries howling.
Environment

Do domesticated dogs howl back at wolves?

By Laura Baisas

A fossilized fish brain alongside of a penny for size comparison.
Science

Scientists find 319-million-year-old fossilized fish brain

By Laura Baisas

Artist's reconstruction of Ignacius dawsonae surviving six months of winter darkness in the extinct warm temperate ecosystem of Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada.
Environment

These primate ancestors were totally chill with a colder climate

By Laura Baisas

Two long, dark, Koh Tao worm salamanders on a swampy soil
Environment

One wormy Triassic fossil could fill a hole in the evolutionary story of amphibians

By Laura Baisas

A chimpanzee holding out its hand.
Environment

Adolescent chimpanzees might be less impulsive than human teens

By Laura Baisas

Adult zebra shark swims in a tank at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago
Environment

A virgin birth in Shedd Aquarium’s shark tank is baffling biologists

By Laura Baisas

Five fossil specimens including extinct trilobites.
Environment

Trilobites may have jousted with head ‘tridents’ to win mates

By Laura Baisas

A small lizard called the Puerto Rican crested anole sits on a human-made fence.
Environment

When these reptiles became city lizards, it changed their genes

By Laura Baisas

‘Snowball Earth’ was crushing and cold. What animals could survive it?
Environment

‘Snowball Earth’ was crushing and cold. What animals could survive it?

By Chris Baraniuk / Hakai Magazine