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

A spider monkey stands on a tree branch with a baby monkey on her back.

The ancestor of all placental mammals survived the dino-killing asteroid

By Laura Baisas

An orangutan sits in the forest and looks forward with its hands under its chin.

Orangutans can make two sounds at the same time

By Laura Baisas

An artist's illustration of a megalogon, which went extinct 3.6 million years ago and are believed to have grown to lengths of 50 feet.

Megalodons were likely warm-blooded, despite being stone-cold killers

By Laura Baisas

A close-up of a katydid, an insect with six long and lean legs.

A 50-million-year-old insect testicle is one lucky find

By Laura Baisas

Close-up photos of three fossil animal specimens from the same area and time horizon as the fossil hominin tibia studied by the research team. These fossils show similar cut marks to those found on the hominin tibia studied. The photos show (a) an antelope mandible, (b) an antelope radius (lower front leg bone) and (c) a large mammal scapula (shoulder blade).

Cut-up prehistoric bone raises questions about early human cannibalism

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s reconstruction of Olympicetus thalassodon pursuing a school of fishes alongside plotopterid birds (background) somewhere in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

This dolphin ancestor looked like a cross between Flipper and Moby Dick

By Laura Baisas

Examples of engravings discovered in the Roche-Cotard cave (Indre et Loire - France). On the left, the "circular panel" (ogive-shaped tracings) and on the right the "wavy panel" (two contiguous tracings forming sinuous lines).

Neanderthals were likely creating art 57,000 years ago

By Laura Baisas

A white Andalusian horse galloping in a field.

Horses once had multiple hoofed toes

By Laura Baisas

Bite marks on Triassic fossils show signs of bloody dino decapitation

Bite marks on Triassic fossils show signs of bloody dino decapitation

By Sara Kiley Watson

This extremely metal Cretaceous dinosaur grew blade-like armor

This extremely metal Cretaceous dinosaur grew blade-like armor

By Sara Kiley Watson

Australian giant skink

This chunky ancient lizard was 1,000 times bigger than its modern relatives

By Sara Kiley Watson

Two ants facing one another. Ants release a pheromone that helps other ants sense danger.

Ants brains are surprisingly good at communicating danger to others

By Laura Baisas

Lucy, our ancient human ancestor, was super buff

Lucy, our ancient human ancestor, was super buff

By Sara Kiley Watson

single fruit fly

Flies age faster once they’ve seen death

By Sara Kiley Watson

Paramecium bursaria under a microscope. All creatures whose cells house a nucleus, including Paramecium bursaria, can be traced back to a common ancestor called the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA).

Newfound single-celled hunters may have been Earth’s first-ever predators

By Laura Baisas

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

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.

Octopuses rewrite their own RNA to survive freezing temperatures

By Laura Baisas

A monkey laying on a tree smiling.

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.

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.

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.

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

By Laura Baisas

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Male woolly mammoths had hormone-fueled bouts of aggression

By Laura Baisas

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

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

A scientific exploration of big juicy butts

By Rachel Feltman

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

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

By Sara Kiley Watson

How deadly amphibians survive their own poisons

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.

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

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.

Mudskippers blink—and that’s a huge evolutionary clue

By Laura Baisas

A male chimpanzee named Frodo frowns.

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

By Laura Baisas

A carnivorous Sarracenia plant growing in the wild.

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

By Laura Baisas

Cannabis plant under purple weed grow light

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

By Jamie Helmick

An orb weaver spider spins a web in a forest.

Spider glue might evolve faster than the spiders themselves

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Jamie Helmick

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.

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.

Oldest bat skeleton ever found by paleontologists finally has a name

By Laura Baisas

Luna moth resting on a tree.

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

By Jamie Helmick

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

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

Why food tastes wildly different to different people

By Julia Craven

An adult elephant walks with two juvenile elephants.

Scientists may have figured out why elephants exhibit complex emotions

By Laura Baisas

An ostrich inspects eggs in a nest.

Troodons laid eggs in communal nests just like modern ostriches

By Laura Baisas

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

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.

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.

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

Desert daisy tricks male flies with sexy evolutionary deception

By Laura Baisas

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

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.

Why dinosaurs were terrible swimmers

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

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,

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.

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

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

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

Gorillas like to scramble their brains by spinning around really fast

By Sara Kiley Watson

Fungus gnat on a white flower petal

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

By Sara Kiley Watson

A warm of bees on a honeycomb.

Older bees teach younger bees the ‘waggle dance’

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Sara Kiley Watson