Evolution

A Cyclosa ginnaga spider perched amid its silk web decoration looks strangely like the result of a bird relieved itself in the forest understory.

This Spider Web Was Deliberately Spun to Look Like Bird Poop

It’s not artistic license. The arachnid avoids predators by masquerading as bird droppings, say scientists

He makes it look so easy.

Humans Gave Up Our Strength to Support Our Big Heads

Evolution may have traded muscle mass for big brains

Tiktaalik roseae had fish-like fins, a flattened skull (similar to a crocodile), and is thought to have lived in shallow water, using its fins to prop itself up.

Did the Evolution of Animal Intelligence Begin With Tiktaalik?

How one marvelously preserved fossil sheds light on how the vertebrate invasion of land took place

A red-winged blackbird, the males of which (pictured) feature bright red spots. Females, on the other hand, are a mottled brown.

Drab Female Birds Were Once As Flashy As Their Male Mates

Biologists always assumed that sexual selection primarily drove differences in looks between male and female birds, but a new study challenges that notion

A drawing of the West Indian or Caribbean monk seal based on a specimen collected in Matanzas, Cuba.

For the First Time in More Than 100 Years, Scientists Discover New Seal Genus

The now extinct Caribbean monk seal shares an evolutionary connection with the endangered Hawaiian monk seal--one more reason to save the species

In her seminal rose diagram, Florence Nightingale demonstrated that far more soldiers died from preventable epidemic diseases (blue) than from wounds inflicted on the battlefield (red) or other causes (black) during the Crimean War (1853-56). “She did this with a very specific purpose of driving through all sorts of military reforms in military hospitals subsequent to the Crimean War," says Kieniewicz.

Infographics Through the Ages Highlight the Visual Beauty of Science

An exhibit at the British Library focuses on the aesthetic appeal of 400 years of scientific data

In an Emergency, We Act Like Ants

Like many animals, we tend to clump together when danger presents itself

An experiment with corals taken from the warm waters of the U.S. National Park of American Samoa showed that at least one species can quickly adapt to rising heat.

This Coral Has Shown It Can Weather Warmer Waters

Corals are not expected to do well with climate change. But the ability to adapt to warmer oceans could give them more time

Female on top: A female Neotrogla insect mates with a male in a cave in eastern Brazil.

In This Community of Brazilian Cave Insects, Females Wear the Penises, Literally

A genus of insect that inhabits caves in eastern Brazil has reversed sex organs, say scientists

How the Zebra Got Its Stripes, According to Science

Rather than acting as camouflage or social signals, zebra stripes seem to deter biting flies

A pastoral cattle herder in near the Meatu district in Tanzania.

Africans' Ability To Digest Milk Co-Evolved With Livestock Domestication

Lactose tolerance spread throughout Africa along human pastoral migration routes, say scientists

Which Animal is the Smartest, How Did Fingernails Evolve and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Breadcrump sponges, Halichondria panicea, can survive with minimal oxygen.

Earth’s First Animals May Have Lived in a Dead Zone

Breadcrumb sponges show how Earth's first animals may have got by with barely any oxygen

Some dinosaurs, such as the (Caudipteryx zoui) above, had brightly colored feathers. New research suggests that modern birds inherited their own color varieties from their feathered dinosaur ancestors.

Colorful Plumage Began With Feathered Dinosaurs

The pigment patterns scientists use to predict ancient animal colors started with feathered dinosaurs and led to vibrant color in birds

Everybody is listening, but nobody is learning.

When Are We Going to Stop Making Famous People Argue About Evolution?

From the Scopes trial to last night's Nye/Ham face-off, Americans love pointless creationism debates

In addition to its limb-like front fins, Tiktaalik had large, mobile rear fins that it used to push itself around in the water.

Ancient Walking Fish May Have Walked on All Fours

A fossilized pelvis shows the fish had functioning rear “legs”

Going the distance: Evolution mavens in the Quantock Hills of England walked for some 3.5 billion years.

Take a Hike on Britain’s Ancestor’s Trail and Travel Back 10,000 Years

On a wild hike inspired by famed evolutionist Richard Dawkins, every step promises a strange encounter with the origins of species

A tobacco hornworm caterpillar chowing down on a wild tobacco plant in the Great Basin Desert, Utah

Caterpillars Repel Predators With Second-Hand Nicotine Puffs

As far as spiders are concerned, caterpillars have a case of very bad breath

Orbus chirurgia, a scorpion used for semi automated and remote surgery.

An Artist Imagines the Techno-Evolved Creatures of the Future

Vincent Fournier has seen the future of evolution, in which humans design animals for their own uses

Hadza hunter-gatherers on the hunt for dinner.

Animals And Humans Use Similar Tactics to Find Food

The authors think this particular foraging method may have evolved in early humans and stuck around through the eons due to its effectiveness

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