Evolutionary Biology

Joshua Lambus is an award winning photographer and videographer based on the Big Island of Hawaii. He specialises in ‘blackwater’ diving, which involves travelling up to 8 kilometres off the shore of Hawaii, and diving into the ocean in the black of night, when thousands upon thousands of deep-sea species head to the surface to [...]

Discovering a new species isn't always as easy as saying “Look, there’s a new species!” In the case of a rare bird recently identified in Brazil, it took about 20 years for scientists to gather enough evidence to classify it as a new species.

Here are some amazing things that me and my friends have been talking about lately. They all concern fascinating discoveries or insights into unusual aspects of tetrapod behaviour.

"Left-handed" electrons have been found to destroy certain organic molecules faster than their mirror versions

Mike meet everyone, everyone meet Mike. No, no, don't wave. He can't see, you're just making this awkward. Also known as Miracle Mike, Mike the Headless Chicken was a plump, five-year-old cockerel when he was unceremoniously beheaded on 10 September 1945.

Robot octopuses can already walk, jet along and even grasp tools. But new advances have these machines swimming faster than ever. And thanks to the addition of soft, fleshy webs, they’re starting to look—and move—much more like the real thing, too.

Eight-armed buffet: Divers record video of an octopus eating one of its own

Flock to this: A new analysis of anatomical features shows birds evolved gradually from dinosaurs

On Tuesday I wrote about my experience diving in a deep-sea submarine, but going on right now are two live-streaming deep-sea expeditions that allow you incredible access to the deep sea from the comfort of your own home.

Bob Dylan asked: "Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?" Sure, this is a metaphor (in Dylan's case, for a lost love) but it works because the complexities of avian flight—from migration and navigation to group dynamics—have long been a mystery, one with a preponderance of ideas, but few firm answers.

I'm still not sure whether I blog about Mesozoic archosaurs - specifically dinosaurs and pterosaurs - too often, or too infrequently. As I always say, the problem as I see it is that dinosaurs and pterosaurs have so much presence in the blogosphere that writing about them always feels like jumping on a bandwagon.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—What happens in the brains of people who see Jesus in a piece of toast? What are the physics of slipping on a banana peel?