How to speak chimpanzee
Evolutionary psychologist Katja Liebal literally wrote the book on Primate Communication. A professor of developmental psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin, Liebal's research focuses "on the...
View ArticleCheck out this 480 million-year-old conga line of arthropods
When I was little, my big brother would take me fossil-hunting on a quest for trilobites, marine arthropods that have been extinct for around 250 million years. Occasionally we'd find lone specimens...
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Newly discovered sharks that walk are the "youngest" shark species on Earth
Some species of sharks have evolved to literally walk along the ocean floor (no, not on land) using their fins as feet. New research Conservation International’s Mark Erdmann and colleagues determined...
View ArticleSome wasps have evolved to recognize and remember faces
A team of researchers at Cornell University recently published a new paper titled "Evolutionary dynamics of recent selection on cognitive abilities." But that's a mouthful that kind of buries the lede,...
View ArticleGrad student proves one of Darwin's theories almost 140 years after his death
In On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin posited that animal lineages with more species should also have more sub-species, or "varieties" in Darwin's terminology. Now, nearly 140 years after...
View ArticleThe evolutionary reason why dogs walk in circles before lying down
Why do dogs often walk in circles before lying down for bed? Turns out, it's a survival trait inherited from their evolutionary ancestor the wolf. From Southern Living: “Turning in circles before...
View ArticleThese volcano-dwelling snails are metal as hell, and also have iron shells.
Deep in the depths of the hydrothermal volcanic vents of the Indian Ocean lives a type of scaly-footed snail that has learned how to protect itself from the elements with iron plated armor. As Wired...
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This is how some snakes can fly
Some snakes have evolved the ability to glide through the air. For example, paradise tree snakes in southeastern Asia can launch off from a branch and fly as far as 10 meters. Scientists have known...
View ArticleScientists find 100 million-year-old sperm preserved in amber
Paleontologists found this bundle of "giant sperm" in the reproductive tract of an ostracod that's been preserved for 100 million years in amber from Myanmar. From the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität...
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Animals have evolved into a crab-like-shape at least 5 separate times
Evolutionary biologist L. A. Borradaile once defined carcinisation as, "one of the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab." According to a 2017 paper from the Biological Journal of the Linnean...
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Analyzing the evolutionary biology of STAR WARS megafauna
"Why Is the Star Wars Universe Full of Megafauna?" This is the question that has plagued James Davis Nicoll for years. But it ultimately hit its peak after watching the recent season of The...
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Why our brains still struggle with tensions between work, leisure, and the...
Writer Derek Thompson recently reviewed the new James Suzman book Work: A Deep History, From the Stone Age to the Age of Robots for the The Atlantic. I haven't read the book in question, but the review...
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Bones may have evolved to work like batteries
The bones of prehistoric fish "acted as skeletal batteries" that supplied minerals to power the animals as they swam long distances, according to new research described in National Geographic. Berlin...
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Why do animals have butts?
The evolutionary story of asses, particularly anuses, remains shrouded in mystery. When did animals go from a one-hole digestive sac to the tunnel we know and love today? Over at The Atlantic,...
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Evolution finally now accepted by majority of Americans, 150 years after Darwin
For decades, approximately half of Americans rejected the theory of evolution. But finally the University of Michigan reports that in the last few years, the tide has (slightly) turned and "the level...
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Meet Phiomicetus anubis, doglike whale that ran and swam near Egypt 43m years...
In A new protocetid whale offers clues to biogeography and feeding ecology in early cetacean evolution, we learn of a species of whale that lived near Egypt 43m years ago and why it earned the name...
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Astonishing videos of a microscopic tardigrade going for a walk
Tardigrades, aka "water bears," are .02-inch-long animals that live throughout Earth's biospheres, from below solid Antarctic ice to deep ocean trenches and rainforests. Most animals of that size are...
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Animals are "shapeshifting" to cope with climate change
A new scientific paper finds that warm-blooded animals are evolving larger beaks, legs, ears and tails, as they try to adapt to a warmer planet. "Appendages have an important, but often undervalued,...
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Did God use Adam's penis bone to make Eve? Scholars discuss.
The Genesis creation story describes God using Adam's rib to create Eve (Genesis 2:21-22), but one Biblical scholar doesn't think it was so simple. In a 2015 paper in Biblical Archeology Review, Ziony...
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New study reveals that domesticated horses may have originally come from Russia
A horse is horse, of course, but what is the source of the horse we endorse? According to a recent scientific study published in Nature which analyzed the genomes of nearly 300 ancient horses over the...
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Sour may be the oldest taste
What does danger taste like? Around 500 million years ago in the deep ocean, danger tasted sour. Very sour. Fish evolved the ability to taste acidity in water which can be harmful for the animals. But...
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Zombie fungus and other magnificent images of evolution and ecology from...
The science journal BMC Ecology and Evolution published the winners of its annual photography competition featuring images captured by researchers in the field. "The competition attracted entries from...
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New study reveals that humans are not related to these spikey, wrinkly...
According to a new study published in the journal Nature, the spikey, wrinkly, anus-less, microscopic organism known as Saccorhytus coronarius is not, in fact, an evolutionary precursor to homo...
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Frogs evolved black skin to adapt to radiation in Chernobyl
Researchers Pablo Burraco and Germán Orizaola went to Chernobyl in 2016 and found Eastern tree frogs with an "unusual black tint." This species is typically bright green. They learned that the frogs in...
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What would life be like if tardigrades had a growth spurt?
Microscopic, uniquely situated in the world of appearances, and cuter than the word acute, tardigrades are fascinating creatures, like super-uber-mini sea cows or tiny swimming piglets. But what if...
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Surrealist art and apparel for Charles Darwin's birthday
Our friends at the surrealist clothier and thinktank The Imaginary Foundation are celebrating Darwin Day today (February 12) with astonishing new artwork and apparel honoring the naturalist's life and...
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A new theory on how humans evolved their large brains
There are many theories on what selective pressures may have led to the dramatic increase in the size of early human brains, which are much larger than any other ape's. A new study posits that DNA...
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Evidence of hominins building wooden structures half a million years ago
Archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest wooden structure ever found. A team of scientists have found well-preserved wood in Zambia that dates back at least 476,000 years: older than our own...
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Study finds that many primates engage in same-sex behavior, to reduce social...
The fact that many animals engage in same-sex behavior is well-established, and has been reported in over 1500 species, including invertebrates, birds, reptiles, and mammals. A new study published in...
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Flatworms can either regrow their bodies or have sex, but not both
In a recent study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution titled "Evolutionary dynamics of whole-body regeneration across planarian flatworms," a group of researchers looked into the limitations...
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