Evolutionary Biology

Are there half a million? 100 Million? After decades of research, there is no consensus

The Sherlock Holmes era of my life has, sadly, ended. I just completed The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Kindle edition, four novels and 56 short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Some considerable years ago - February 2007, actually - I made the decision to write a short Tet Zoo article on speculative zoology. It was on the biology of Godzilla, and I published it with trepidation, my concern being that people would balk at the fact that I was covering an imaginary creature, not a [...]

The successful, 22 million-year-old group could double in its number of species before leveling off

April Fools’ Day is not unique to Western cultures. People all over the world and all throughout history have celebrated the coming of Spring with festivals of deception and lightheartedness.

Yeast cells make savvy mating choices, choosing partners that are the right size for the environment

Yet again, the world is cockahoop and head-over-heads in awe over another thrilling, dumbfounding, truly novel zoological discovery. No, I'm not talking about the discovery of suspension-feeding anomalocarids, ancient echolocating odontocete cetaceans, or even of new tapirs (did I mention the new tapir?), but of a stupendous new living bird, discovered clinging to existence in [...]

Friends and colleagues who know that I illustrated Neil Shubin’s first book, Your Inner Fish, have been asking if I was involved in the three-part PBS series hosted by Shubin that will air next week on April 9th.

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

The most successful environmental legislation ever enacted faces new threats from Congress

For decades anthropologists have debated when and how our ancestors became skilled hunters. Recent discoveries have yielded surprising new insights