Evolution

Dog Breeding Has Changed Pooches’ Brains

A new study has found that key anatomical differences in dogs’ brains are linked to the behaviors they were bred to perform

The remarkably complete skull of a human ancestor of the genus Australopithecus fills in some of the gaps in the human evolutionary tree.

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

The cranium of a male <i>Australopithecus anamensis</i>, a close relative of Lucy, provides clues about one of the earliest hominins to walk on two legs

Blindfolded insect larvae opted to perch on twigs matching their body coloring about 80 percent of the time

These Caterpillars Can Detect Color Using Their Skin, Not Their Eyes

In experiments, peppered moth caterpillars successfully camouflaged themselves even when blindfolded

The spider species featured in the study is unusually social, living in colonies of several hundred females and exhibiting either aggressive or docile tendencies

Hurricanes Are Making This Spider Species More Aggressive

The new findings have broader implications for understanding extreme weather events’ effects on animal behavior

In a fit of pique, according to one of Aesop's fables, the god Hermes made the animal carry its house forever on its back.

How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues unpacks the complicated evolution of how this creature grew a home upon its back

Black squirrels are seen across North America and England

Interspecies Breeding Is Responsible for Some Squirrels’ Black Coloring

Color-changing mutation originated in fox squirrels but spread to eastern gray squirrels via mating

Saber-toothed cats likely ambushed plant-eating prey in forests, not open grassland

Fossils Reveal Why Coyotes Outlived Saber-Toothed Cats

Contrary to popular belief, carnivorous cats and canines probably didn't hunt the same limited pool of prey

An artist's depiction of Earth during the Archean Eon, from 4 to 2.5 billion years ago, when life consisted of only single-celled microbes with no nucleus (prokaryotes). How these primitive organisms first formed from chemical reactions remains one of the greatest mysteries of science.

Searching for the Key to Life's Beginnings

From exoplanets to chemical reactions, scientists inch closer to solving the great mystery of how life forms from inanimate matter

The exhibit room appears nearly monochromatic and devoid of life before the augmented reality app reveals Ruffner's invented plants.

This Artist Imagines How Nature Evolves Following an Environmental Apocalypse

Ginny Ruffner’s “Reforestation of the Imagination” at the Renwick uses augmented reality to show the plants that might grow after environment devastation

An artist's recreation of Hylonomus lyelli, a tiny reptile that lived more than 300 million years ago.

Tiny Animals Trapped in Fossil Trees Help Reveal How Fauna Moved Onto Land

New ancient animals will likely be discovered in 310 million-year-old fossilized trees in Nova Scotia

The bear was only a few years old and had become comfortable around humans.

A Young Black Bear Was Put Down After Humans Fed It, Took Selfies

The more food bears obtain from humans, the more likely they are to lose their natural fear of us

A dog being hitched to a travois in an 1844 painting by Karl Bodmer.

Ancient Dogs Weren't the Workhorses We Thought They Were

A spinal condition thought to be caused by carrying heavy loads is actually a function of age, a new study finds

A digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph depiction of a Giardia lamblia protozoan caught in a late stage of cell division, producing a heart-shaped form. Most protozoa, or singled-celled eukaryotes, reproduce asexually, but there is evidence to suggest Giardia lamblia can reproduce sexually as well.

The Evolution of Sex Could Have Provided a Defense Against Cancer Cells

The first sexually reproducing organisms may have found that the energy-intensive enterprise bolstered defenses against malignant cells

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Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

From the formation of Earth through the changing climates and creatures of the past, the Smithsonian's new Hall of Fossils explores our planet's Deep Time

Green Monkeys Borrow Their Cousins' Eagle Warning Call When Drones Are Near

Intriguingly, the call is very similar to the one produced by East African vervet monkeys, suggesting that these responses are evolutionarily hard-wired

Do fungi like this Penicillium mold, which produces the the antibiotic penicillin, trace their origins to an ancestor that lived a billion years ago?

Fossil Discovery Pushes Back the Origin of Fungi by Half a Billion Years

Ancient fungus helps rewrite what we know about evolution and the tree of life

Bedbugs, which were previously thought to be about 50 million years old, could be much older, new genetic and fossil evidence suggests.

Bedbugs Scurried the Earth Alongside the Dinosaurs 100 Million Years Ago

Researchers calculate that the pests evolved long before bats, which were thought to be their first hosts

White-throated rail.

How Evolution Brought a Flightless Bird Back From Extinction

Fossil remains offer rare evidence of a phenomenon known as ‘iterative evolution’

Life reconstruction of the bizarre membranous-winged Ambopteryx longibrachium.

Newly Discovered Bat-Like Dinosaur Reveals the Intricacies of Prehistoric Flight

Though <i>Ambopteryx longibrachium</i> was likely a glider, the fossil is helping scientists discover how dinosaurs first took to the skies

Narwhals Have Low Genetic Diversity—and They’re Doing Fine

A new study has traced this puzzling phenomenon to a gradual decline in the whales’ population, followed by a rapid increase around 30,000 years ago

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