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Evolution

Mary Caswell Stoddard studies eggs at Princeton University.

New Research

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

Male deer grow these impressive face ornaments every year, in a cycle of life, death and itchiness.

New Research

Antlers Are Miraculous Face Organs That Could Benefit Human Health

There’s so much more to deer antlers than fighting and impressing the ladies

Tree resin trapped this baby bird 99 million years ago.

New Research

This 99-Million-Year-Old Bird Coexisted With Dinosaurs

The tiny bird is a big find for paleontologists

View looking south of the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, where the fossils were found

New Research

The Science Behind the Discovery of the Oldest Homo Sapien

We need both genetics and anthropology to solve the mysteries of human origins, says a researcher on the team

This is cowpea seed beetle penis, not a weapon from Game of Thrones

New Research

Why Seed Beetles Are Caught in a “Sexual Arms Race”

The strange spiky penis of the cowpea beetle seems to drive the evolution of both male and female beetles

A blue whale swims through the Indian Ocean. These massive creatures are the largest animals on Earth.

New Research

Why Did Whales Get So Massive?

The answer is a tale of massive proportions

How Mastiffs Became the World’s Top Dogs

The large, furry dogs of Tibet took an evolutionary shortcut millenia ago

This spine is the earliest intact reference for how humans' skeletons may have developed.

New Research

This 3.3-Million-Year-Old Hominin Toddler Was Kind of Like Us

Analysis of the ancient spine reveals tantalizing similarities—and questions about human evolution

Ornithologist John Gould's illustrations of finches collected by Charles Darwin on the Galápagos Islands show the physical differences that the men relied on in dividing them into different species.

Future of Conservation

What Does It Mean to Be a Species? Genetics Is Changing the Answer

As DNA techniques let us see animals in finer and finer gradients, the old definition is falling apart

Illustration of Mystacodon selenensis

New Research

This 36-Million-Year-Old Fossil Is a “Missing Link” in Whale Evolution

Discovered in Peru, the new fossil has tiny remnants of hind limbs

The stone flakes are flying, but what brain regions are firing?

New Research

How Smart Were Early Humans? “Neuroarchaeology” Offers Some Answers

Brain Imaging Gives Insight Into Early Human Minds

New Research

How Glaciers Gave Us the Adorable, Handstanding Spotted Skunk

DNA tests suggest ancient changes in climate shaped the creatures’ evolution

Henry Bates (Calum Finlay) was a self-taught field biologist and note taker. He created remarkable drawings and watercolors of his collections and observations. Several of his original notebooks are in the archives of London's Natural History Museum.

Science in the Movies

How Filmmakers Distill Science for the Big Screen

The new film Amazon Adventure turns decades of research into 45 minutes of visual majesty

You can't sit with us. You smell like poo.

New Research

Gut Check: Mandrills Sniff Poop to Avoid Peers With Parasites

Researchers have documented one of the first instances of social avoidance in a non-human animal

Ingenious leafcutter ants have developed a successful symbiotic relationship with the fungi they farm. New genetic analysis helps pinpoint when, and why.

New Research

How Ants Became the World’s Best Fungus Farmers

Ancient climate change may have spurred a revolution in ant agriculture, Smithsonian researchers find

Are creatures like this at the bottom of animals' family tree?

New Research

Scientists Think Comb Jellies May Have Come Before All Other Animals

Sorry, sponges—there’s a new oldest ancestor in town

Are orangutans aware that others have different minds than their own?

New Research

Monkeys May Recognize False Beliefs—Knocking Over Yet Another Pillar of Human Cognition

Apes may be aware of the minds of others—yet another remarkable finding about the cognitive abilities of non-human animals

Lesson learned: Don't cross a fangblenny.

New Research

These Tropical Fish Have Opioids in Their Fangs

The point isn’t to relieve pain—it’s to kill

Smithsonian researchers found that otters that use tools aren't closely related.

New Research

Unlike Dolphins, Sea Otters That Use Tools Are Not Closely Related

Rock-bashing in otters is a very old behavior

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