Evolution

Making fire on demand was a milestone in the lives of our early ancestors. But the question of when that skill first arose has been difficult for scientists to pin down

Two new studies dig into the long, curving path that cats took toward domestication

Newly identified bones tie the mysterious Burtele foot to a new Australopithecus species that lived alongside Lucy more than three million years ago

An enigmatic group of fossil organisms has finally been identified—and is changing the story of how plants took root on land

This lovable Star Wars droid is helping to shed light on why some bird species are better at mimicking sounds than others

City-dwelling raccoons seem to be evolving a shorter snout—a telltale feature of our pets and other domesticated animals

A surprising diversity of dog shapes and sizes evolved long before the Victorians began making modern breeds

This finding is the first documented case of colonial behavior between two solitary species of spider

Controversial evidence hints that complex life might have emerged hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought—and possibly more than once

Wild chimps ingest the equivalent of multiple alcoholic beverages a day

Tiny fossils hint at when birds began making their mind-blowing journey to the Arctic to breed

Ant queens of one species are sexual parasites that clone ants of another species to create hybrid workers that do their bidding