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Evolution

There are good reasons why you won't see a Siamese fighting fish swimming this way in the wild.

The Evolutionary Reason Why Fish Don’t Swim Upside Down

It’s a natural question for animals that float, but few scientists have delved into the details

Crested pigeons make an awful racket when they take off—but where's it coming from?

New Research

Australian Pigeons Have a Specially Evolved Feather to Better Annoy the Heck Out of You With

Pinpointing the birds’ noisemakers could help researchers better understand why urban avians make so much dang noise

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 Origins

New Research

When the Dinos Went Away, Mammals Came Out (in Daylight) to Play

While it’s challenging to imply one caused the other, a new study shows that mammals came into the light of day soon after the dinos disappeared

A member of the new orangutan species, Pongo tapanuliensis.

New Research

Found: A New Species of Orangutan

But it’s thought to be already critically endangered

Decennatherium rex

New Research

Four-Horned Giraffe Ancestor Unearthed in Spain

The fossil is an unusually complete individual of an ancient giraffid species

Is fear of creepy crawlies nature or nurture?

New Research

Spiders Give You the Heebie Jeebies? You Might Be Born With That Fear

New research shows that even babies are creeped out by these wriggly critters

Diploscapter pachys hasn't had sex for 18 million years, and is doing just fine

New Research

This Worm Hasn’t Had Sex in 18 Million Years

By fusing its chromosomes, the creature could essentially clone itself while still maintaining genetic variation

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

New Research

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

New Research

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

New Research

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?

New Research

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

New Research

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

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