Evolution

Evolution occurs over millennia, but it can also happen in just a few generations. For example, Darwin's finches in the Galapagos rapidly evolved specialized beaks as their food options changed, green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) evolved larger toe pads that enabled them to climb higher to escape predators, and peppered moths (Biston betularia) became darker colored…

In this adapted excerpt from "Infinite Life: The Story of Eggs, Evolution, and Life on Earth," (Pegasus Books, 2024) author Jules Howard examines the invasiveness of the placenta — how far it permeates into the wall of the uterus and the maternal tissue — in mammals after the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck.Although it has not been…

It seems like common sense that being smart should increase the chances of survival in wild animals. Yet for a long time, scientists couldn’t demonstrate that because it was unclear how to tell exactly if a lion or a crocodile or a mountain chickadee was actually smart or not. Our best shots, so far, were…

Primeval fish that were thought to be "living fossils," largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, are actually evolving dramatically — and they evolved faster when Earth's continents moved faster, fossils of a newly identified coelacanth species have revealed.The findings suggest that the large-scale movement of continents may spur the evolution of life, the…

Rapa Nui, often referred to as Easter Island, is one of the most remote populated islands in the world. It's so distant that Europeans didn't stumble onto it until centuries after they had started exploring the Pacific. When they arrived, though, they found that the relatively small island supported a population of thousands, one that…

When Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution in the mid-19th century, he figured this fundamental process took place very slowly over geological timescales, taking millions of years.But is this correct, or can evolution happen more quickly? How fast can evolution work?First, let's define evolution, which is the process by which a species' genes or…

Defense systems found in all complex life on Earth came from "Asgard."The ancestor of plants, animals and fungi evolved around 2 billion years ago, likely from a group of complex microbes called Asgard archaea — and we inherited two defense proteins that fight off viruses from those single-cell organisms, new research suggests."This study shows that…

Evolution is the way groups of life-forms change over time to better fit the places they live.It is why life takes "such endless forms most beautiful and wonderful," as British biologist Charles Darwin wrote in his famous 1859 book "On the Origin of Species."Quick factsOldest ancestor of all life: Approximately 4.2 billion yearsFirst human species:…

All species on Earth, both living and extinct, are related. We know this because of a biological tool called the tree of life. This "tree" takes the form of a diagram that maps the relationships between plants, animals and other organisms. Its "trunk" successively forks into millions of ever-more intricate "branches," each of which represents…

Enlarge / The African Lungfish, showing it's thin, wispy fins. When it was first discovered, the coelacanth caused a lot of excitement. It was a living example of a group of fish that was thought to only exist as fossils. And not just any group of fish. With their long, stalk-like fins, coelacanths and their…