Evolution

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

Latest in Evolution

A mother and calf West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) in Crystal River, Florida.
Environment

Florida’s famous manatees were originally tourists

By Laura Baisas

Marine fossils found at Neanderthal cave site
Science

Neanderthals may have enjoyed collecting tchotchkes—just like us

By Andrew Paul

stone walls separating several small houses in ireland
Science

Scottish, Irish, and Northern English better at detecting fake accents

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of two Skiphosoura bavarica in flight.
Science

New pterosaur species sliced through the air with a sword-like tail

By Laura Baisas

a small bird with black, gray, and white, plumage solves a puzzle in a lab
Environment

Immigrating great tits learn from their new neighbors

By Laura Baisas

x-ray scans of early human skulls. the teeth are colored red, green, orange, blue, and purple to show the differences among them
Science

These 1.77-million-year-old teeth could help demystify human childhoods

By Laura Baisas

an elephant in a zoo enclosure holds a yellow hose in its trunk and uses the hose as a shower
Science

Watch a clever elephant use a hose to get clean

By Laura Baisas

Chimpanzee playing a number-based game on a touch screen
Science

Like humans, chimps often perform tasks differently when crowds are watching

By Andrew Paul

Illustration of a terror bird standing by river
Science

Meat-eating terror birds could grow up to 12 feet tall

By Andrew Paul

a tadpole swimming
Environment

A rock in Argentina turns out to be the oldest tadpole fossil ever found

By Laura Baisas

Thalattosuchian skulls. Showing the semi-aquatic species (A and B), and the fully aquatic metriorhynchid (C).
Science

Why don’t we have deep sea crocodiles?

By Andrew Paul

An illustration of Lomankus edgecombei. This arthropod lived about 538 to 485 million years ago in dark and low-oxygen environments.
Environment

450-million-year-old arthropod found preserved in fool’s gold

By Laura Baisas

Silhouette of a loving couple hugging and kissing at sunset on the beach.
Environment

The origins of kissing may have a lot to do with body hair

By Andrew Paul

a rider in a headless horseman costume rides by yellow fall leaves
Environment

The Headless Horseman shares her secrets

By Laura Baisas

two stalk-eyed flies fight on a stick. these flies have long antennae with eyeballs on the tips
Environment

Flies with shorter eye-stalks act aggressively because females are less attracted to them

By Laura Baisas

a close up of four pieces of sliced bread
Science

Our love of delicious carbs may go back 800,000 years

By Laura Baisas

An illustration showing an imposing fully-grown male Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus wandering India’a Kashmir Valley, 400,000 years ago, towering over a herd of Central Asian red deer. In the distance, a small band of prehistoric humans set up a campfire to cook their meal.
Science

Mysterious elephant species uncovered with 87 prehistoric stone tools

By Laura Baisas

Fungi growing on circle and cross arrangement wood blocks
Environment

A simple experiment revealed the complex ‘thoughts’ of fungi

By Andrew Paul

a finch with a sharp beak and dark plumage holds a round seed in its beak
Environment

Scientists simulate calls of ‘future finches’

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of a large hawk-like bird carrying a long tailed rodent in its claws
Science

With fearsome feet, hawk-sized Cretaceous birds could scoop up baby dinos

By Laura Baisas