Evolution (Page 8)

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

Latest in Evolution

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

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.

Raising male offspring comes at a high price for orca mothers

By Laura Baisas

An uncooked brown crab sitting among among seaweed and water.

Neanderthals caught and cooked crabs 90,000 years ago

By Laura Baisas

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

Do domesticated dogs howl back at wolves?

By Laura Baisas

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

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.

These primate ancestors were totally chill with a colder climate

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Laura Baisas

A chimpanzee holding out its hand.

Adolescent chimpanzees might be less impulsive than human teens

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Laura Baisas

Five fossil specimens including extinct trilobites.

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.

When these reptiles became city lizards, it changed their genes

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Chris Baraniuk / Hakai Magazine

Zebrafish swimming in an aquarium.

A primitive part of the zebrafish brain helps them find their way home

By Laura Baisas

A young orangutan in a tree.

Why do humans talk? Tree-dwelling orangutans might hold the answer.

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of adult and young of the ichthyosaur species (Shonisaurus popularis) chasing ammonoid prey 230 million years ago, in what is now Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada.

Millions of years ago, marine reptiles may have used Nevada as a birthing ground

By Laura Baisas

Giant gray cat snuggling a child with black hair in an orange sweater to show their cat-human bond. Illustration.

Your cat is probably more attached to you than you think

By Brandon Keim

a young male chimp eating in a tree

Foraging in trees might have pushed human ancestors to walk on two feet

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A reconstructed image of Ramsayia, alongside a modern day wombat.

Giant wombats the size of small cars once roamed Australia

By Laura Baisas

Large fossilized fragments of free swimming arthropods

Newly discovered fossils give a whole new meaning to jumbo shrimp

By Laura Baisas

The last Tasmanian tiger’s remains were finally found—in a cupboard

The last Tasmanian tiger’s remains were finally found—in a cupboard

By Laura Baisas

The tortoise, the myth, the legend: Jonathan turns 190

The tortoise, the myth, the legend: Jonathan turns 190

By Laura Baisas

This dinosaur dove like a duck

This dinosaur dove like a duck

By Laura Baisas

Artist’s impression of Cryptovaranoides when it was alive

A key to lizard evolution was buried in a museum cupboard for 70 years

By Laura Baisas

The newest member of the T. rex family has piercing eyes

The newest member of the T. rex family has piercing eyes

By Laura Baisas

Ancient army ant

Eyeless army ants chomped their way through Europe millions of years ago

By Laura Baisas

Kimberella fossil

Oldest evidence of digested plants in a roughly 575-million-year-old creature’s gut

By Laura Baisas

A giant prehistoric salamander

These pleasantly plump salamanders dominated the Cretaceous period

By Laura Baisas

Big ancient turtle

Gigantic fossils hint at super-sized 7,000-pound sea turtle

By Laura Baisas

Sex, not violence, could’ve sealed the fate of the Neanderthals

Sex, not violence, could’ve sealed the fate of the Neanderthals

By Laura Baisas

Bellairsia gracilis

A Scottish fossil is helping scientists fill the gaps in the lizard family tree

By Laura Baisas

varying sizes of argonaut egg cases are lined up

Argonaut octopuses are enigmatic—down to their self-made ‘shells’

By Helen Bradshaw

a lioness with a mane

The rare case of a lioness with a mane

By Lauren J. Young

Volcano belching lava and gas above ocean to represent Great Oxygenation Event

Geologists are searching for when the Earth took its first breath

Our long childhoods could be linked to food-gathering skills

Our long childhoods could be linked to food-gathering skills

By Laura Baisas

Billions of years ago, Mars may have been bustling with climate-changing microbes

Billions of years ago, Mars may have been bustling with climate-changing microbes

By Laura Baisas

a colorful illustration of two bipedal dinosaurs

This pterosaur ancestor was a tiny, flightless dog-like dinosaur

By Laura Baisas

Water droplets rising from Iceland's Skogafoss waterfall.

Here’s how life on Earth might have formed out of thin air and water

By Laura Baisas

Diver holding animal skull

Below Madagascar, cave divers surface secrets of the past

Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to scientist who sequenced Neanderthal genome

Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to scientist who sequenced Neanderthal genome

By Laura Baisas

Husky dogs pulling a sled in a snowy landscape

How the logic of ‘winter selection’ shaped centuries of bad science

By Joseph L. Graves Jr.

Kid in lavender shirt stretching toy orange slime out with hands

The slimy history of human beings and mucus

By Omer Gokcumen / The Conversation

Skull research sheds light on human-Neanderthal interbreeding

Skull research sheds light on human-Neanderthal interbreeding

By Laura Baisas

a semi-translucent fish with a tadpole-shaped body and small flecks of red and yellow

Biofluorescent snailfish brave Arctic waters with built-in antifreeze

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

a black and white ghostly image of a jumping spider hanging by a thin silk strand in a sleep-like state

Jumping spiders might be able to sleep—perchance to dream

By Lauren J. Young

A sauropod like Galeamopus would have walked on soft pads.

Cushy feet supported sauropods’ gigantic bodies

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Small European panda from 6 million years ago in a painting

Pandas weren’t always bamboo fiends

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A clay pot filled with milk, with a spoon of milk over it.

Ancient milk-drinkers were just fine with their lactose intolerance–until famine struck

By Philip Kiefer

a close up of a fossil horse tooth

A centuries-old horse tooth holds clues to the mystery of the Chincoteague ponies

By Kate Baggaley

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

By Kate Baggaley

White shepherd or collie dog with tongue hanging out in front of blue background ad swirling dog memories

Do cats and dogs remember their past?

By Brandon Keim

an illustration of an early mammal creature with fur and a few sharp teeth, breathing out a puff of air indicating cold weather. a bug flies in the corner

Mammals’ ears may hold the secret to warm-bloodedness

By Kate Baggaley

a sperm whale swimming under water

Megalodons liked to snack on sperm whale snouts

By Rachel Feltman

A winged insect fossil in rock is about 300 million years old, a fossil example of an early animal to take flight.

When insects got wings, evolution really took off

a siberian husky in the snow howls

Ancient wolf DNA is being used to sniff out where our love story with dogs began

By Kate Baggaley

a close up of a face mite poking out of a skin pore

The mites that breed on our faces are getting clingier by the day

By Lauren J. Young

x-ray of impacted wisdom tooth

We finally know why we grow wisdom teeth as adults

By Sara Chodosh

What an ancient jawbone reveals about polar bear evolution

What an ancient jawbone reveals about polar bear evolution

By Philip Kiefer

The 1918 flu outbreak, in which patients were kept in quarantine wards like this, was one of the world's deadliest pandemics.

A viral descendent of the deadly 1918 flu is probably still going around

husky staring at you intently

The biggest myth about dog breeds

Two crows attacking a feeding bald eagle along the water

Crows and ravens flexed smarts and strength for world dominance

Shifting ancient climates shaped human evolution

Shifting ancient climates shaped human evolution

By Philip Kiefer

fluorescent view of an archerfish's skeleton and anatomy

An archerfish family tree is the best shot yet at the evolution of sniper fish

Dogs know exactly what they’re doing when they give you the ‘puppy eyes’

Dogs know exactly what they’re doing when they give you the ‘puppy eyes’

By Lauren J. Young

Two mid-sized brown owls sitting on a branch in daylight with horses, rhinos, and soaring birds in the background in an illustration

Meet the ancient owl that embraced daylight

By Purbita Saha