Our study on weird ancient marine animals called radiodonts supports the idea that vision played a crucial role during the Cambrian Explosion, a rapid burst of evolution about 500 million years ago.
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Articles on Evolution
Displaying 281 - 300 of 988 articles
66 million years ago, birds survived the calamity that wiped out all prehistoric dinosaurs. But could birds once again evolve into their long lost ancestors?
Ancient fatty molecules, once believed to be traces of some of the first animals to live on Earth, may have been produced by algae instead.
Lying can be more than just telling a few fibs. It can also be used to communicate social status and make a person appear loyal to a particular group.
How a series of spoof newspaper reports from America became the cradle of science fiction.
As viruses are transmitted from person to person they are constantly mutating and replicating. Could the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolve to evade the new vaccines that have just been developed?
The assumption that the lateral semicircular canal of the inner ear can be used to reconstruct head posture in extinct species has long remained unchallenged.
DNA from the humble sea sponge is shedding light on the “dark matter” that makes up much of our genomes.
New research confirms findings from before the pandemic: that vaccine hesitancy often coincides with broader anti-scientific thinking.
Did feathers evolve in the common ancestor of pterosaurs and dinosaurs? Not everyone is convinced
By eliminating the less fit individuals over time, predation can drive the population to increasing fitness in terms of survival and reproductive success.
Fossils reveal that dinosaurs’ flying cousins become twice as efficient at flying over 150 million years.
Today’s birds evolved from feathered dinosaurs.
The Earth’s magnetic field was most likely weaker when life evolved on our planet than it is today.
Why were mammals travelling south through newly-formed Panama so much more successful than those heading north?
Local adaptation allows plants and animals to thrive in a diversity of places. Sometimes adaptation sharpens patterns of where organisms live, but 85% of the time, it creates a more homogeneous world.
As in humans, environmental changes provoked chimpanzees to develop a diverse range of behaviours.
Artefacts suggest a ‘great leap’, a recent evolution of modern intelligence. Fossils and DNA argue that’s an illusion.
Researchers are figuring out how plants respond to the presence of human cadavers. The findings could prove important for discovering the locations of murder victims or mass graves.
The ‘good’ side of our nature is much more deep-rooted than the ‘evil’ side.
Top contributors
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Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
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Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW's Grand Challenges Program, UNSW Sydney
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Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University
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Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences at the University of Bath, University of Bath
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Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath
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Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash University
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Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Adjunct Research Associate, Monash University
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University
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Mark Elgar is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Evolutionary Biology, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Natural Sciences, UCL
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Senior lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, University of Bristol
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Evolutionary Ecology, Griffith University
