Archaeology

Isolated, related snail populations in Ireland and the Pyrenees suggests that humans carried the creatures north by sea. Dina Fine Maron reports

Researchers disagree over the whens and wheres of canine domestication

Archaeological evidence indicates that France's winemaking techniques and grapes originated in Etrusca, part of present-day Italy. Cynthia Graber reports

New evidence shows that a controversial fossil may be the oldest human ancestor

Around 250 million years ago animals in the seas began to diversify with gusto. Remarkably, the evolution of minute plants known as phytoplankton probably powered that dramatic explosion

Scientists artificially age insects in a bid to learn how their colors evolved

Meteorite impacts thousands of years ago may have helped to inspire ancient religion

Tens of millions of years passed between the emergence of land animals and the evolution of an efficient apparatus for munching on the available fare. Karen Hopkin reports

The development of complex tools and even art may have been spurred by shifts in weather

An analysis of chemicals in primate teeth shows that a Neandertal infant nursed exclusively for a little more than seven months

A discovery of the oldest known fossils from two major primate groups fills in a 10-million-year gap in the record and reveals new information about evolution

Ancient DNA suggests that the ancient Cretans descended from Neolithic populations