The genes controlling nose shape can reveal a lot about our evolutionary history.
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Articles on Evolution
Displaying 661 - 680 of 989 articles
Not everyone can weave a gripping tale. But for one gender, it matters more than the other.
Embryos greedily want more resources than their fair share. New research investigates how early in evolution their hormonal tactics arose.
Scientists of all kinds turn to computer models to investigate questions they can’t get at any other way. Here’s how models work and why we can trust them.
Do women prefer ‘manly men’ with thick beards and deep voices? Science reveals all.
Why do we laugh? Evolutionarily speaking, it’s so we could survive – and similar rules apply today.
Researchers show that a sexually transmitted disease similar to gonorrhoea could have got rid of promiscuous behaviour in agricultural societies.
Human sacrifice seems horrifying and costly. But there might be a reason so many early human societies practiced it.
Your attitudes to risk – from extreme sports to school rugby – are hardwired into you.
Most scientists don’t think there’s an inherent conflict between their field and religion, so why do we?
The natural world is full of trickery and deception in the struggle for survival.
We’ve bred them into all shapes and sizes, but dogs haven’t been around for long enough to have evolved beyond Canis familiaris.
Most scientists have found a way to make religion and evolution compatible, but not in the way you might think.
We need to spend more time investigating nature’s ‘ordinary Joe’s’.
Sex roles in nature don’t always follow the same script. In fact, some females have genitals that resemble a penis. How can this be? Evolution has the answers.
Africa is traditionally known as the cradle of human-kind. But research shows that it is also the cradle of bird-kind, for gamebirds at least.
Scientists used to think that the 98% of human DNA that didn’t encode proteins was junk. They don’t think that anymore.
Not looking forward to the hot flushes associated with menopause? Don’t worry, science suggests there are actually benefits to it.
Why do so many people question evolution and not other scientific theories?
For human groups to grow from small, intimate communities to the huge interconnected societies we know now, people needed to be willing to cooperate with strangers. Religion might have played a big role.
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
