Two-Headed Worms Tell Us Something Fascinating about Evolution
Researchers looked back at more than 100 years of research and found that a fascination with annelids with mixed up appendages was strong—and that research still has relevance today.
A Guide to the Different Omicron Subvariants
How to tell the different versions of SARS-CoV-2 apart, and how well vaccines protect against them
Pterosaurs May Have Had Brightly Colored Feathers, Exquisite Fossil Reveals
An amazingly well-preserved fossil suggests the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs also had some type of feather or feather precursor
Social Animals Seek Power in Surprisingly Complex Ways
It’s not just physical combat—animals have a host of strategies for building clout
Lost Genes Explain Vampire Bats’ Diet of Blood
To survive on nutrient-poor blood, less can sometimes be more
Urban Evolution: How Species Adapt to Survive in Cities
Evolution in cities illuminates long-standing scientific questions and climate change futures
Newly Discovered Saber-Toothed Predator Shows How Hypercarnivores Evolved
A well-preserved fossil introduces a new species that lived in what is now California around 42 million years ago
The Devastating Loss of Grandparents among One Million COVID Dead
Grandparents are a majority of the pandemic’s death toll
Snakes’ and Lizards’ Slow and Steady Evolution Won the Race
A related lineage’s explosive growth leaves just one descendant today
A Strange Creature Discards Genes to Make a Better Heart
The sea squirt relative demonstrates that sometimes less is more: losing genes can be adaptive
Rockshelter Discoveries Show Neandertals Were a Lot like Us
Our much maligned cousins made sophisticated ornaments and probably had language
Junk DNA Deforms Salamander Bodies
Yet the unfit creatures survive, challenging our long-held view of evolution