Eve – Lucas Cranach the Elder (c.1510)
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The story of human evolution is inextricable from the story of gynaecology.
Male anglerfish are tiny compared to females.
Neil Bromhall/Shutterstock
Does size matter? In the animal kingdom, yes.
Unlike humans, many animals still have tails.
vblinov/Shutterstock
Many evolutionary changes also come with costs.
James Dorey Photography
By lifting their gaze to the treetops rather than poking around on the ground, researchers discovered eight new species of masked bees.
Bacteria are evolutionarily primed to outpace drug developers.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health/Flickr
The Nobel Prize-winning Luria−Delbrück experiment showed that random mutations in bacteria can allow them to develop resistance by chance.
Bernard Spragg/Flickr
From sacrificial bark to fire-germinating gumnuts to stealthy buds the eucalyptus has evolved an arsenal of protective measures.
olliulli/Shutterstock
Understanding how the ageing of sperm works in other animals is more important than ever as human male fertility is in decline.
IMGP.
Cane toads are evolving as they spread across Australia. Parasitic lungworms are becoming more infectious to keep up.
Ermine moths are deaf, but have an intricate wing structure that protects them from bats by producing warning clicks when they fly.
HWall/Shutterstock
The ermine moth’s wing structures are fascinating because they rely on a mechanism we teach our engineering students to avoid
An artist’s impression of the new pterosaur species, Cheoptera
Mark Witton/Natural History Museum
The Isle of Skye has a rich palaeontological heritage, so perhaps it’s no surprise scientists made an important discovery there.
Nature Uninterrupted Photography/Unsplash
Flowers tend to stand out against a natural background. A new study shows this contrast evolved in a key relationship with their most famous pollinators – bees.
Scarlett Howard
Being susceptible to visual illusions is part and parcel of life not just for humans, but many other species – including bees.
Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock
The evolution of sexual behaviour is a long and complicated tale. Taking a long view involves a degree of speculation.
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Did the enormous West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse the last time global temperatures were 1.5°C above preindustrial levels? The answer lay in the DNA of an octopus.
Rattana/Shutterstock
Our mammal ancestors evolved to compete with dinosaurs but may have lost something in the process.
The baleen whale fossil at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
Eugene Hyland, Museums Victoria
A newly described fossil from South Australia is making waves in our understanding of where and when whales evolved titanic body sizes.
wikipedia/Foley
The human brain uses up 20% of the energy we consume.
ERIK Miheyeu/Shutterstock
Inflammation could be the missing puzzle piece.
A full set is two on the top and two on the bottom.
Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Two dental experts explain that these furthest-back molars may be a not-so-necessary leftover from early human evolution.
Posnov/Getty Images
For decades, scientists have tried to uncover the cause of long-term changes in Earth’s biodiversity. New simulations point at geography playing a critical role.