Evolution

A bit of 3.95 billion-year-old graphite locked in quartz

This May Be the Oldest Traces of Life Yet Found

Bits of graphite, 3.95 billion years old, suggest life was churning away soon after Earth's formation

The wings of a normal and CRISPR-edited Sara Longwing butterfly show how disabling a single gene can change the patterns

Scientists Identify the Genes That Paint Butterfly Wings

Using genetic editing, scientists isolated just two genes that play a major role in making butterfly wings as pretty as they are

Cassiopea jellyfish resting "upside-down" in their tank

Even Without a Brain, Jellyfish Still Need to Sleep

These simple, ancient creatures show just how deeply rooted sleep may be in the animal kingdom

Two tree frogs share an intimate moment. The eye-popping yellow of the male only emerges in mating season.

The Color-Changing Marvel of Tree Frogs Looking for Love

A new study sheds light on the wild world of "dynamically dichromatic" amphibians

Using their elongated necks just right, giraffes can stay cool on the steamy savannah

How Do Giraffes Stay So Cool? Perhaps the Secret Is a Long Neck

Those long, thin necks may be used to shade their skin from the hot African Sun

Taxonomic vandalism can have disastrous consequences for wildlife conservation—but it could also impact human health. Shown here, an African spitting cobra poised to strike.

A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy

Naming species forms the foundation of biology—but these rogue researchers are exposing the flaws in the system

A baby gray whale surfaces in Magdalena Bay, Baja, Mexico.

A Whale’s Baleen Bristles Reveal the Story of Its Life

Like tree rings, these layered plates hold chemical clues to how the animals adapt to a changing world

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed.

Prying Apart the Mighty Bite of a Malaysian Trap-Jaw Ant

Its mandibles strike in a fraction of a blink of an eye, but how does it do it?

Why Horses and Their Ilk Are the Only One-Toed Animals Still Standing

Early horses had 15 toes, but life on the plains led to a stronger center toe, leading to life on four hooves

Male wolf spiders may have eight eyes, but they still can't tell whether the female they're mating with is dead or alive.

Whoa: Polygamous Wolf Spiders Have a Natural Form of Birth Control

Females have figured out how to get rid of unwanted sperm, allowing them to reap the benefits of multiple mates

Nyanzapithecus alesi skull

Is This Baby Animal the Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Apes?

The 13-million-year-old skull found in Kenya combines early ape and gibbon-like features

The Joshua tree is one of the Mojave Desert's most iconic inhabitants. But it's under threat—and the key to saving it may lie in better understanding its tiny winged partner.

How a Tree and Its Moth Shaped the Mojave Desert

The partnership between the Joshua tree and the yucca moth may be key to understanding how plants and insects co-evolve

Is This Where Humanity Decided to Settle Down?

Plant analysis of ancient wild cereals from Göbekli Tepe reveal a remarkable similarity to modern strains

An arachnid in the trapdoor spider family, a group known for its snug and potentially even ocean-going burrows.

How One Brave Spider Floated Thousands of Miles to Colonize a New Continent

Improbably, new genetic analysis shows that trapdoor spiders may have ridden ocean currents from Africa to Australia

This 3D recreation depicts what scientist believe the ancestor of all modern flowers looked like

What Did the Ancestor of All Flowers Look Like?

Tracing back the genetic tree of flowering plants millions of years, scientists recreate the predecessor of Earth's flowers

A captive wolf greets a stranger in an experiment testing the sociability of dogs and their ancestors

What Makes Fido So Friendly? It Could Be Genetic

Mutations in several genes linked to hypersocial behavior in people may have helped along canine domestication

One wave of domestication or two? The debate rages on.

New Study Has a Bone to Pick With Dog Domestication Findings

Contrary to past research, a new DNA study suggests fido was only tamed once

A crowd gathers in the "Bird Migration" exhibit at the Steinhardt Museum during the inauguration event.

The Middle East Is a Treasure Trove of Natural Wonders. Now It Has a Museum to Show Them Off

Everything from early human skulls to priceless taxidermy relics will be on display in the ark-shaped museum

Mary Caswell Stoddard studies eggs at Princeton University.

Scientists Hatch a New Explanation for How Eggs Get Their Shapes

Flight ability could explain how eggs are shaped

The sun may get all the attention, but our lunar lodestar helps creatures navigate the swells and tides of ocean life.

How Moonlight Sets Nature's Rhythms

Lunar luster triggers mating orgies, guides travelers and even can even provoke magical transformations

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