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Viviane Callier

Stories from Viviane Callier

A digital illustration of typical prokaryotes—cells that do not contain a nucleus. Bacteria and archaea are the two kinds of prokaryotes on Earth, and their ancestors were the first organisms to evolve.

A New Study Points to Two Origins of Life on Earth by Tracing Early Chemical Reactions in Single-Celled Organisms

The work challenges the assumption that all life descended from one free-living cell. Instead, it suggests that two microbial lineages, the bacteria and archaea, evolved independently from a primordial, nonliving ancestor

Sceptobius beetles groom ants to steal the pheromones that they produce. The beetles cloak themselves in those pheromones to match the scent of the ant colony, gaining the ability to live among the ants undetected.

These Beetles Are Entirely Dependent on Ants for Survival. Here’s Why That’s Not an Evolutionary Death Sentence

Rove beetles cloak themselves in ant pheromones to sneak into the insects’ nests for protection. But in an odd catch-22, that makes them forever reliant on their hosts