Thousands of Ancient Aboriginal Sites Probably Damaged in Australian Fires
The sites are rich in cultural history, but the blazes might also reveal some unknown ones, say archaeologists
Evolution11636 articles archived since 1845
Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent
Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
Curiosity Killed the ... Mouse?
The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii boosts curiosity in mice—which makes them more likely to be caught by cats, thus continuing the parasite’s life cycle. Karen Hopkin reports...
Penguin Skin Offers Hints about Dinosaur Fluff
A fossil penguin wing found in Antarctica has broader implications for what dinosaurs looked like
Pop Culture’s Rate of Change May Mirror Organic Evolution
A new study finds that music and some other human phenomena have altered at a pace comparable to that of animals such as Darwin’s finches
Paleontologists Dig Into a Giant Sloth Boneyard
Ancient drought and unfortunate bathroom habits may have doomed some ice age sloths
This Fish Knows How to Stick Around
The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Bacteria Helped Plants Evolve to Live on Land
Soil bacteria may have taken residence in early algal species, gifting the algae with the ability to withstand drier conditions on land. Annie Sneed reports.
Loss of Large Mammals Stamps Out Invertebrates, Too
Hunted areas of Gabon have fewer large mammals and a thicker forest understory—but they also have fewer termites. Jason G. Goldman reports.
What Did Dinosaurs Smell Like?
Smell was certainly an important part of dinosaur life. What do we know about it?
Brittle Stars Can “See” without Eyes
The starfish relatives can recognize patterns using photoreceptors on their arms—and their color-changing abilities could have something to do with it. Christopher Intagliata reports...
Atlantic Puffins Spotted Using Tools
Scientists observed two Atlantic puffins using sticks to scratch themselves—the first known instance of seabirds using tools. Christopher Intagliata reports.
What CRISPR-Baby Prison Sentences Mean for Research
A Chinese court sent a strong signal by punishing He Jiankui and two colleagues
The Biggest Whales Are Yet to Come
A study of whale feeding habits found that food is the main limit to the size of ocean giants
The Time of Giants
Envisioning the Jurassic world requires a lot of fossil detective work
Part of Real Paleo Diet: It’s a Tuber
In South Africa archaeologists found the charred remains of a roasted root vegetable. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Doing the Crocodile Trot
A new study finds that many crocodile species can bound and gallop. But alligators can’t
The Weapons of Sexual Rivalry
Male competition and female preferences have driven arms races for the flashiest horns, antlers, pincers, tusks and claws
Cave Arachnids’ Modern Range Matches Ancient Glacier Outline
Alpine harvestmen live where, long ago, glaciers stretched south
Deep Breather
Explaining the very long steps of Earth’s oxygenation—and perhaps that of other planets, too
