Evolutionary Biology

The "odorous house ant" smells like blue cheese or rotten coconut because it produces chemical compounds similar to those found in its nose-sakes. Cynthia Graber reports

In an excerpt from his new book Ian Tattersall lays out the story of how a scientific giant in the field of evolution put forth a spectacularly incorrect theory about the diversity of hominids

In west Africa researchers observed wild chimps seek out and drink fermented tree sap left outside by humans. Karen Hopkin reports

Researchers have found what appear to be collagen fibers and blood cells in unremarkable-looking fossils

People tend to remember a color they saw, for example green-blue teal, as being closer to a more stereotypical variant, such as straight blue or green. Karen Hopkin reports

The miraculous recovery of a coral and the gargantuan range of a lichen may both result from the surprising evolutionary advantages their "alternative" lifestyles give them

A new study suggests that chimps have the cognitive skills necessary for cooking—such as patience—even if they don't control fire. Christopher Intagliata reports

Call it the "grolar bear" dilemma: Are hybrids caused by climate change bad for species?

Science has identified four steps to losing weight that can improve the odds of success

A nutritionist boils a mountain of conflicting diet advice down to a few simple principles

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

A team of deep divers plunges into the “twilight zone,” a little-explored region of depth between 200 and 500 feet below the surface, with two goals: "catch fish" and "stay alive".