The first truly terrestrial animals evolved from ancient fishes that left the water for land. But what prompted to move has been a mystery.
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Articles on Evolution
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There are plenty of mammals that have adapted to life in water, some more than others. That meant they also had to adapt the way they feed.
Their days were numbered for quite some time …
Newly recognised genetic populations carry their evolutionary history with them, and the history of their habits. This is why detecting new species is so important.
How do we determine what is fact? An archaeologist explains how the answer has changed over time and why it matters so much now.
Like humans, some animals have evolved a highly developed sense of fairness.
Do organisms adapt after they arrive in new environments or are the adaptations what lets them to move to new locations?
It’s difficult to sort out the conservation ‘wheat’ from the ‘chaff’ when too many subspecies are defined.
Much like the hair you carefully rearrange before a selfie, your cheek muscles and the accompanying smile date back about 250 million years.
We have the penis of a monogamous primate yet our body sizes suggest our ancestors slept around a lot.
Victorian attitudes influenced what scientists thought they were observing about sexual behaviors in the animal world. But modern techniques reveal the myth for what it is.
The first teeth may have evolved from combination of scales and tastebuds.
New research shows viruses can effectively turn bacteria into animal-like cells.
The way early humans learned to handle food could explain why the majority of people today are right handed.
A cryptic part of DNA helps keep a species’ mutations in check until they become useful.
All dingoes are ginger, right? Nope. They don’t bark? Wrong again. And they’re ultimately just wild dogs? Well, that’s trickier, but for conservation purposes the answer is still basically no.
Size doesn’t always matter when it comes to the pitch of your voice, especially if you’re an aquatic mammal.
Understanding how bullying evolved may help us deal with it in modern society.
Charles Darwin was one of the first to show connections in the variety of life by using a rough evolutionary tree. Things have developed quite a bit since then.
Scientists have long believed that our distant cousins are the placoderms, and ancient group of armoured fish. But a new study is casting doubt on that view.
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
