Evolutionary Biology

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928–May 28, 2014) reading her poem "The Human Family"
 

Is this the end of Montana's famed cutthroat trout in the face of invasive rainbow trout, stream temperature rise and flow changes?

A new genetic analysis shows that flightless birds, or ratites, did not evolve from a common flightless ancestor as had been previously thought

A structural study of spider fangs found that their curved, hollow design gives them the necessary strength for piercing and injecting their prey

Today is the birthday of one of my science heroes: Carl Linnaeus. Born on May 23, 1707, the Swede turned natural history from a hobby into a science with his masterful systemization and documentation of what had until then been haphazard classification of plants, animals and fungi.

The following project constitutes a half-hour activity for 3-, 4-, or 5-year olds. It includes the entire process from finding fossils to putting the recovered pieces together like a puzzle to drawing our best guess at what it looked like in life.

Biologist Gerald Edelman–one of the truly great scientific characters I’ve encountered, whose work raised profound questions about the limits of science—has died.

Since diverging from a common ancestor with brown bears less than half a million years ago, polar bears have accumulated genetic changes that allow them to eat a superhigh-fat diet without suffering cardiovascular consequences. Karen Hopkin reports

 

Honeybee “waggle dances” could help conservationists judge whether wildlife restoration efforts are working
 

The publication of the draft genetic sequence of a comb jelly reveals a nervous system like no other

I heard you're looking for a new favourite animal. Look no further, this is your guy. At just 35 centimetres long – which includes a 20-cm-long tail – and weighing no more than 500 grams, the pygmy anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is the smallest anteater on Earth.

The 180-million-year-old fossils suggest that shallow-water animals may have originated from deep-sea ancestors