Chances of Finding COVID-Causing Virus Ancestor ‘Almost Nil,’ Virologists Say
A genome analysis finds SARS-CoV-2 and bat coronaviruses shared an ancestor just a few years ago, but extensive recombination has muddied the picture
Fossils Upend Conventional Wisdom about Evolution of Human Bipedalism
For most of human evolution, multiple species with different ways of walking upright coexisted
Geologic Activity Lets Microbes Mingle Deep Underground
Tiny subterranean cracks can upend aquifer microbes’ ecology
Vertebrates May Have Used Vocal Communication More Than 100 Million Years Earlier Than We Thought
Animals with a backbone may have first emitted something akin to bleeps, grunts, crackles, toots and snorts more than 400 million years ago
Penis Worm’s Ancient Cousin Fossilized with Its Doughnut-Shaped Brain Intact
The fossilized embryo of a Cambrian worm holds the preserved remains of a tiny brain
Discoveries about Ancient Human Evolution Win 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Svante Pääbo’s work on sequencing the DNA of Neandertals and Denisovans, which won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, revealed surprising interbreeding among human species
The Oldest 3-D Heart from Our Vertebrate Ancestors Has Been Discovered
Fish fossils from Western Australia preserve the oldest 3-D hearts, livers, stomachs and intestines in a jawed vertebrate
If T. Rex’s Beady-Eyed Glare Terrifies You, It Should
Top-predator dinosaurs of the Cretaceous may have traded big eyes for a bigger bite
In a First, Tiny Crustaceans Are Found to ‘Pollinate’ Seaweed like Bees of the Sea
Small marine critters ferry around seaweed sex cells, the first recorded example of “pollination” in algae
How Humans’ Ability to Digest Milk Evolved from Famine and Disease
A landmark study is the first major effort to quantify how lactose tolerance developed
New Evidence Emerges in Mystery of When Mammals Became Warm-Blooded
Fossil animals’ inner ear structures offer clues on when endothermy, or warm-bloodedness, evolved
Feathers May Have Helped Dinosaurs Survive Their First Apocalypse
Geologic evidence for a freezing arctic suggests dinosaurs could have weathered an epoch-ending volcanic winter