Charles Darwin

Some of the ‘remarkable beetles’ Wallace collected in Borneo.

Tracing Alfred Russel Wallace’s Footsteps Through the Jungles of Borneo

A biologist treks to the site where the little-known naturalist penned a paper on evolution that would spur on a rivalrous Charles Darwin

The new horticultural center will be built at the RHS flagship garden in Wisley, Surrey

One Million British Botanical Treasures Will Be Digitized

Artifacts in the sprawling collection include a Chilean potato plant collected by Charles Darwin and 18th-century lavender

Though the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may seem pronounced, scientists didn't always embrace the idea that humans evolved from other species.

How Do Scientists Identify New Species? For Neanderthals, It Was All About Timing and Luck

Even the most remarkable fossil find means nothing if scientists aren’t ready to see it for what it is

Charles Darwin was an avid fossil collector and during his expedition on the HMS Beagle, he was one of the first to collect remains of extinct South American mammals.

How Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Evolved

A new Smithsonian Book highlights firsthand accounts, diaries, letters and notebooks from aboard the <i>HMS Beagle</i>

The reproductive organs of Schlumbergera, known as the Holiday Cactus. This was heady stuff in Erasmus Darwin's time.

Charles Darwin’s Grandfather Was Famous for His Poems About Plant Sex

Erasmus Darwin’s poetics influenced his grandson’s vision of nature

In her second book, The Sexes Throughout Nature, Blackwell argued that while male lions are physically larger and stronger, female lions were “more complex in structure and in functions” through their ability to reproduce and feed their young.

The Woman Who Challenged Darwin's Sexism

How a preacher with no scientific training ended up writing the first feminist critique of <em>Origins</em>

Ornithologist John Gould's illustrations of finches collected by Charles Darwin on the Galápagos Islands show the physical differences that the men relied on in dividing them into different species.

What Does It Mean to Be a Species? Genetics Is Changing the Answer

As DNA techniques let us see animals in finer and finer gradients, the old definition is falling apart

Researchers have documented more than 4,000 fossils on clifftop beds accessible to the public.

Darwin Would Have Loved the Cliffs of Newfoundland, Where 500-Million-Years-Old Fossils Reside

Step back in time half a billion years to a world of mysterious sea creatures that would have thrilled Darwin

Besides exceptional facial hair, what could these two gentlemen have in common?

The Hidden Connections Between Darwin and the Physicist Who Championed Entropy

These magnificently bearded men both introduced a dose of randomness and irreversibility into the universe

The better to infect you with, my dear...

For Viruses, the Best Way to Infect Baby Is Through Mama

Some viruses might take it easier on women—to get to their children

Showy traits, like the large antlers of these bull moose, can be detrimental to an animal's health.

Go Big or Go Generic: How Sexual Selection Is Like Advertising

When it comes to attracting mates, it pays to either go all out—or not try at all

The National Zoo's resident cassowary in 2010.

Behind the Scenes at the National Zoo With the World’s Most Dangerous Bird

The zoo's cassowary “still has that mysterious aura about her—that prehistoric, dinosaur-walking-through-the-rainforest-quality."

Sully Vent in the Main Endeavour Vent Field in the northeast Pacific, similar to the environment LUCA would have lived

Behold LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth

New discoveries suggest life likely descends from the inhospitable environment of deep sea vents

Front and back of the letter written by Charles Darwin to Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden on May 2, 1875

A Letter Written by Charles Darwin, Twice Stolen, Returns to the Smithsonian

After being snatched by an intern in the mid 1970s, the missive written by the scientist returns to Washington

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The "Sistine Chapel of Evolution" Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

A female medium ground finch, one of at least 14 species of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin's Famous Finches Could Be Extinct in Half a Century

The finches on the Galapagos Islands are suffering from a parasitic fly introduced to the islands by humans

Montsechia’s origins in freshwater lakes challenge the idea that flowers evolved on land before moving into water.

These Are the Oldest Known Flowers in the World

Found in the fossil record, these plants are more than 100 million years old

A Letter About Darwin’s Belief in God Just Sold for Nearly $200,000

Just 41 words long, it provides a missing link for historians who have long wondered what the naturalist thought about religion

The day Darwin climbed Patagonia’s Mount Tarn, Conrad Martens painted it from across the bay.

The Beautiful Drawings by Darwin's Artist-in-Residence

On the famous HMS Beagle voyage, painter Conrad Martens depicted the sights along the journey

Illustration of Macrauchenia from the forthcoming book "Biggest, Fiercest, Strangest" W. Norton Publishers (in production)

Mystery Mammals' Ancestry Was Revealed by Proteins, Not DNA

The huge rhino-like animal and trunked llama-like animal posed a mystery until now

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