Evolution

4 Science Books That Explore the Future of Human Evolution

Not too long ago, designer babies, artificial intelligence, and immortality were the exclusive province of science-fiction. Not anymore. According to …

Mystery Fossil Finally Confirmed to Be an Animal After 70 Years of Research

Ooookay, this is a weird one.<p>How animals evolved on Earth is somewhat murky. We know that most major animal phyla we see today appeared during the …

Survival of the Prettiest

For readers, Charles Darwin, born in 1809, apparently never gets old. Books by Darwin number 25. Books <i>about</i> Darwin, according to the global library catalog WorldCat, number about 7,500, with production ever rising. This cascade started with 22 books about Darwin published in 1860, the year after …

Sugar Molecule May Help Identify Human Ancestors

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA—According to a report in <i>The San Diego Tribune</i>, scientists led by Anne K. Bergfeld and Ajit Varki of the University of …

What happened to the woolly rhino?

As time ran out for the woolly rhino, strange things happened. Before going extinct, a new study suggests, some of the beasts faced an unusually high risk of growing bizarre ribs in their neck. Those misplaced ribs might have signaled the animals’ impending demise.<p>Scientists examined neck bones …

How 'true frogs' buck assumptions about evolution - Futurity

Biologists assumed species adapt as they move around the world, evolving away from their ancestors. Not so for what scientists call "true frogs."

Don’t Blame Pigs for Swine Flu—Species Hopping Is How Viruses Evolve

When new species evolve, where do their viruses come from? As little more than free-ranging bundles of genetic material, viruses desperately need to …

Are Wolves Better Problem Solvers Than Dogs?

From a young age, human children learn that a rattle won't make a noise until it's shaken, and that placing fingers on a hot stove is a terrible …

Naked Bearded Dragons Reveal Where Vertebrates Got Their Coats

Feathers, fur, and scales come from an extremely early ancestor.<p>This story appears in the October 2017 issue of <i>National Geographic</i> magazine.<p>From scales to feathers to fur, vertebrates clothe themselves in a dazzling variety of textures and hues. But scientists have shown that many of those …

Dinosaur fossil experts calling on amateurs to help dig in North Dakota

Paleontologists and amateur diggers alike are uncovering dinosaur fossils that are tens of millions of years old – and they’re right in our backyard. NBC’s Lucy Kafanov shines our Sunday Spotlight on the incredible bones being dug up in North Dakota.

The Soviet Union’s Crazy ‘Planet of the Apes’

<i>This story originally appeared on July 6, 2014.</i><p>Back in 2005, the Scottish daily newspaper <i>The Scotsman</i> ran a sensational story about a bunch of …

Do Animals Murder Each Other?

Watch a wildlife show on television, and you'll likely see at least one scene of an animal killing another, whether it's a brown bear catching salmon …

What Are Analogous / Homologous Structures?

Definition<p>Attacks on evolution from conservative religious believers often include the claim that there is no hard evidence for evolution ever …

As Oceans Alkalized, Life Developed Bones and Shells

A critical feature of many multicellular lifeforms on Earth are hard, biological structures, such as animal bones and snail shells that are made from …

Why Buddhism is True (And Why You Can Blame Natural Selection for Your Suffering)

<b>At the risk of overdramatizing the human condition: Have you ever</b> seen the movie The Matrix? It’s about a guy named Neo (played by Keanu Reeves), who …

Xbox One's Crazy New Memory System Will Save You So Much Space

September 15, 2017<p>Share This<p>Xbox One Will Let You Avoid Downloading Game Content You Don’t Use<p>Microsoft is working on new ways to economize memory on …

Understanding Homologous Structures in Evolution

If you've ever wondered by a human hand and a monkey's paw look similar, then you already know something about homologous structures. People who …

Ancient frogs had lots of teeth: scientists

TORONTO — Canadian researchers say they've found evidence that the ancient ancestors of modern-day frogs were once keen predators with thousands of …

Ancient amphibian had mouthful of teeth ready to grab you: UTM research

The idea of being bitten by a nearly toothless modern frog or salamander sounds laughable, but their ancient ancestors had a full array of teeth, …

Listening to creationists can strengthen our understanding of evolution

Can we learn from creationists – people who deny evolution? I think so. It is not enough to say, as Richard Dawkins notoriously did: “If you meet …

Recreating the Glue Neanderthals Used to Make Weapons

There are some things people can't live without, so we invented them way before we ever invented writing: coats, knives, roofs, fire, just to name a …

Ancient Teeth Push Back Early Arrival of Humans in Southeast Asia

New tests on two ancient teeth found in a cave in Indonesia more than 120 years ago have established that early modern humans arrived in Southeast …

Why Hasn’t Evolution Made Another Platypus? - Issue 52: The Hive

Snuffling through the underbrush, the shaggy little creature wanders through the sylvan night, sticking its nose in one place, then another, seeking …

How did the orchid originate and evolve? | Nature Ecology & Evolution Community

<b>The paper in Nature is here: http://go.nature.com/2eWDlmf</b><p>Worldwide, there are nearly 30,000 orchid species. They show unique flower morphologies …

Molecular 'time machine' shows chance's role in evolution - Futurity

Studying the many ways an ancient protein could have evolved reveals how much chance played into life as we know it—and how it could have gone …

Evolution boffins buzzing over bee discovery

How Do Giraffes Stay So Cool? A Long Neck

Reaching high-up food may not have been the only or even main reason giraffes evolved to have long necks, as new research suggests that these …

‘Supergenes’ drive evolution

Male ruffs, mountain honey bees, zebra finches, and several other organisms have a secret weapon to help them be successful—a flipped piece of DNA …

Huge DNA Databases Reveal the Recent Evolution of Humans

The real clue is what scientists did not find.<p>When we talk about human evolution, we usually talk about how we evolved into humans: how we lost body hair, gained brain mass, started to walk on two feet—in short, things that happened millions of years ago.<p>But evolution did not stop when the first …

Giraffes Could Have Evolved Their Long Necks For a Surprising Reason

You probably think you know how giraffe necks evolved. Maybe the ancestors of giraffes ate leaves from trees, and the ones who could reach the most …