Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Evolution

New research shows that magical tales have an even longer history than previously suspected.

New Research

Fairy Tales Could Be Older Than You Ever Imagined

Jack may have been climbing that beanstalk for more than 5,000 years

Fossilized microbial mats, or stromatolites are one of the oldest fossils found on Earth. This one lurked in shallow waters 3.4 billion years ago.

Life and Rocks May Have Co-Evolved on Earth

A Carnegie geologist makes the case that minerals have evolved over time and may have helped spark life

New Research

Thank Neanderthals for Your Immune System

Genes inherited from our ancient cousins may have helped fight off disease

Does Altitude Affect Animals the Same Way it Affects Humans and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

The Verreaux's sifaka is one of the unique mammals found only on Madagascar.

Tiny Fossils Reveal the Rise of Mammals on Madagascar

Recent finds are helping paleontologists piece together what happened after dinosaurs vanished from the island

A cichlid fish swims in Lake Tanganyika. New research has shown new cichlid species coming to be in a much smaller crater lake in Tanzania.

New Research

Darwin’s “Puddle” Could Show How New Species Emerge in Close Quarters

A genetic study of cichlid fish in a small crater lake seems to support a debated evolutionary concept

A black-and-white snub-nosed monkey

New Research

Monkeys Like Full Red Lips, Too

In snub-nosed monkeys, male lips plump up and redden as they age, likely to signify reproductive availability and social status

A cheetah stalks past a herd of giraffes in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve.

Age of Humans

Humans Caused a Major Shift in Earth’s Ecosystems 6,000 Years Ago

We upended a pattern held for 300 million years, and that may mean we are causing a new phase in global evolution

A juvenile Saccoglossus kowalevskii, a species of acorn worm, with it’s pharyngeal region in blue.

New Research

This Gross-looking Worm Gives Clues About Humans’ Ability to Breathe and Talk

Humans share about 70 percent of their genome with the lowly acorn worm, according to recent research

Skeletal cast of "Lucy."

Trending Today

Lucy the Australopithecus Turns 41 (Plus 3.2 Million Years)

Lucy gets a Google Doodle for the anniversary of her discovery

New Research

This Is How Bats Can Land Upside Down

Bats spin like ice skaters to stick their landing

The first Denisovan tooth that was discovered in 2008

New Research

DNA from a Huge Tooth Confirms a New Ancient Cousin

The Denisovans may have co-existed and interbred with Neanderthals and Homo sapiens

This image shows a Fuxianhuia protensa specimen from the Chenjiang fossil beds in southwest China. The ancient arthropod was just under 5 inches in length.

New Research

How to Fossilize a Brain

A new study shows that brains can can fossilize like bones

Cool Finds

This Incredible Street Art Is Also An Evolution Lesson

In Rome, a giant mural illustrates how life began and evolved

Pliobates cataloniae, a newly discovered ancient ape

New Research

Tiny Ancient Skeleton Redefines the Split Between Monkeys and Apes

The last common ancestor of all apes may have been smaller than previously thought

This Bronze Age skull is from the Yamnaya culture, which later developed into the Afanasievo culture of Central Asia, one of the peoples that carried early strains of plague.

New Research

Plague Was Infecting Humans 3,300 Years Earlier Than Thought

DNA from Bronze Age victims helped pinpoint mutations that allowed the disease to go from localized illness to deadly pandemic

Chelonoidis donfaustoi was named after Ecuador’s oldest park ranger.

New Research

New Species of Galapagos Tortoise Found on Santa Cruz Island

The newly recognized reptile was thought to be part of a more populous species of tortoise sharing the island

Montsechia’s origins in freshwater lakes challenge the idea that flowers evolved on land before moving into water.

These Are the Oldest Known Flowers in the World

Found in the fossil record, these plants are more than 100 million years old

New Research

Man’s Best Friend May Hail From Central Asia

Genetic analysis of over 5,000 dogs suggests that they were originally domesticated in Mongolia and Nepal

New Research

Did Life on Earth Really Start 4.1 Billion Years Ago? Not So Fast

Don’t rewrite the Earth’s history just yet

Page 33 of 49