There is an urgent need to reconsider the importance of diversity. It is not a simple wealth. It is both a property of the living and an essential condition for its survival.
Archaeological excavation at Ain Boucherit, Algeria.
Mathieu Duval
Mathieu Duval, Griffith University e Mohamed Sahnouni, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)
Ancient stone tools found in what is now Algeria show early humans likely spread across Africa more rapidly than first thought.
‘Amphy’ has features of both simple and more complex forms of life – and so can help us understand important steps in evolution.
from www.shutterstock.com
Natural selection isn’t the only factor deciding human evolution.
A member of a rare group of 410-million-year-old jawless fishes from Australia meets a mate.
along the shoreline (artist’s impression).
Nobumichi Tamura
New research shows shallow, near-land seas similar to Bass Strait were critical in the early days of fish evolution. These are the waters we need to protect now to ensure ongoing biodiversity.
Artificial intelligence research owes a lot to biology and chemistry.
Some Harlequin ladybugs, Harmonia axyridis, have black elytra with two large red spots. Others have two additional red spots backwards, or are decorated with a dozen small red spots. Conversely, there are ladybugs with red elytra, decorated with 20 black spots. All these ladybugs belong to the same species.
B. Prud’homme, J. Yamaguchi
Our children all know the little clownfish Nemo, star of the Pixar film. But why does he have three stripes, rather than one or two? Developmental and evolutionary biology are revealing the answer.
Frances Arnold, George Smith and Gregory Winter have won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Ill. Niklas Elmehed/ Nobel Media
Travel from Perth to Melbourne and every kilometre you go represents 100 million years of life on Earth. So let’s take a ride, on a motorcycle of course.
In evolutionary terms, it’s better to be at the bottom of the hierarchy than to be dead – and that’s why submissive behaviours still persist in us humans. Even if we don’t like it.
Andrew Pontzen, Fabio Governato/Wikimedia Commons.