Evolution (Page 9)

The latest science on how life has adapted and changed over generations—and how new species come to be.

Latest in Evolution

Sex, not violence, could’ve sealed the fate of the Neanderthals

Sex, not violence, could’ve sealed the fate of the Neanderthals

By Laura Baisas

Bellairsia gracilis

A Scottish fossil is helping scientists fill the gaps in the lizard family tree

By Laura Baisas

varying sizes of argonaut egg cases are lined up

Argonaut octopuses are enigmatic—down to their self-made ‘shells’

By Helen Bradshaw

a lioness with a mane

The rare case of a lioness with a mane

By Lauren J. Young

Volcano belching lava and gas above ocean to represent Great Oxygenation Event

Geologists are searching for when the Earth took its first breath

Our long childhoods could be linked to food-gathering skills

Our long childhoods could be linked to food-gathering skills

By Laura Baisas

Billions of years ago, Mars may have been bustling with climate-changing microbes

Billions of years ago, Mars may have been bustling with climate-changing microbes

By Laura Baisas

a colorful illustration of two bipedal dinosaurs

This pterosaur ancestor was a tiny, flightless dog-like dinosaur

By Laura Baisas

Water droplets rising from Iceland's Skogafoss waterfall.

Here’s how life on Earth might have formed out of thin air and water

By Laura Baisas

Diver holding animal skull

Below Madagascar, cave divers surface secrets of the past

Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to scientist who sequenced Neanderthal genome

Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to scientist who sequenced Neanderthal genome

By Laura Baisas

Husky dogs pulling a sled in a snowy landscape

How the logic of ‘winter selection’ shaped centuries of bad science

By Joseph L. Graves Jr.

Kid in lavender shirt stretching toy orange slime out with hands

The slimy history of human beings and mucus

By Omer Gokcumen / The Conversation

Skull research sheds light on human-Neanderthal interbreeding

Skull research sheds light on human-Neanderthal interbreeding

By Laura Baisas

a semi-translucent fish with a tadpole-shaped body and small flecks of red and yellow

Biofluorescent snailfish brave Arctic waters with built-in antifreeze

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

a black and white ghostly image of a jumping spider hanging by a thin silk strand in a sleep-like state

Jumping spiders might be able to sleep—perchance to dream

By Lauren J. Young

A sauropod like Galeamopus would have walked on soft pads.

Cushy feet supported sauropods’ gigantic bodies

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Small European panda from 6 million years ago in a painting

Pandas weren’t always bamboo fiends

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A clay pot filled with milk, with a spoon of milk over it.

Ancient milk-drinkers were just fine with their lactose intolerance–until famine struck

By Philip Kiefer

a close up of a fossil horse tooth

A centuries-old horse tooth holds clues to the mystery of the Chincoteague ponies

By Kate Baggaley

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

By Kate Baggaley

White shepherd or collie dog with tongue hanging out in front of blue background ad swirling dog memories

Do cats and dogs remember their past?

By Brandon Keim

an illustration of an early mammal creature with fur and a few sharp teeth, breathing out a puff of air indicating cold weather. a bug flies in the corner

Mammals’ ears may hold the secret to warm-bloodedness

By Kate Baggaley

a sperm whale swimming under water

Megalodons liked to snack on sperm whale snouts

By Rachel Feltman

A winged insect fossil in rock is about 300 million years old, a fossil example of an early animal to take flight.

When insects got wings, evolution really took off

a siberian husky in the snow howls

Ancient wolf DNA is being used to sniff out where our love story with dogs began

By Kate Baggaley

a close up of a face mite poking out of a skin pore

The mites that breed on our faces are getting clingier by the day

By Lauren J. Young

x-ray of impacted wisdom tooth

We finally know why we grow wisdom teeth as adults

By Sara Chodosh

What an ancient jawbone reveals about polar bear evolution

What an ancient jawbone reveals about polar bear evolution

By Philip Kiefer

The 1918 flu outbreak, in which patients were kept in quarantine wards like this, was one of the world's deadliest pandemics.

A viral descendent of the deadly 1918 flu is probably still going around

husky staring at you intently

The biggest myth about dog breeds

Two crows attacking a feeding bald eagle along the water

Crows and ravens flexed smarts and strength for world dominance

Shifting ancient climates shaped human evolution

Shifting ancient climates shaped human evolution

By Philip Kiefer

fluorescent view of an archerfish's skeleton and anatomy

An archerfish family tree is the best shot yet at the evolution of sniper fish

Dogs know exactly what they’re doing when they give you the ‘puppy eyes’

Dogs know exactly what they’re doing when they give you the ‘puppy eyes’

By Lauren J. Young

Two mid-sized brown owls sitting on a branch in daylight with horses, rhinos, and soaring birds in the background in an illustration

Meet the ancient owl that embraced daylight

By Purbita Saha

How vampire bats evolved to get the most out of their bloody diets

By Kate Baggaley

A galloping horse.

Ancient sea creatures pioneered the gallop

By Kate Baggaley

Prehistoric vampire squid swimming in the Paleozoic ocean in an illustration

Slap another cephalopod on the vampire squid’s family tree

By Lauren J. Young

An orange starfish on a rock.

Classifying invertebrates is hard. Butts can help.

By Philip Kiefer

a brown bat in flight

The secret to these bats’ hunting prowess is deep within their ears

By Kate Baggaley

A fossil with a series of diagonal slashes cut into one corner.

Eating meat may not have been as crucial to human evolution as we thought

By Philip Kiefer

Paleontological researchers on a volcanic mound in Ethiopia's Kibish Formation, where some of the oldest Homo sapiens have been discovered

Eastern Africa’s oldest human fossils are more ancient than we realized

By Kate Baggaley

A crab with huge eyes on the front of its face swimming after a shrimp with a big head.

This 90-million-year-old crab had the eyes of a hunter

By Philip Kiefer

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs striking Earth. Illustration.

If that asteroid had been 30 seconds late, dinosaurs might rule the world and humans probably wouldn’t exist

By Sara Chodosh

an illustration of a marine reptile

These ancient marine reptiles got very big, very fast

By Kate Baggaley

a color illustration of a brown and white bird in a lush forest

This 120-million-year-old bird could stick out its tongue

By Kate Baggaley

A young harbor seal looking at the camera

Baby seals sing bass notes when they want attention

By Philip Kiefer

Baltimore checkerspot caterpillar curled up in a black and orange ball

Inflatable tentacles and silk hats: See how caterpillars trick predators to survive

By Erin Fennessy

an illustration of two human ancestors in africa

Is it time to change the way we talk about human evolution?

By Kate Baggaley

These female hummingbirds don flashy male feathers to avoid unwanted harassment

These female hummingbirds don flashy male feathers to avoid unwanted harassment

Here’s how hagfish slime gets 10,000 times bigger in 0.4 seconds

By Sara Chodosh

tetrapod fossil

Our four-legged ancestors evolved from sea to land astonishingly quickly

By Philip Kiefer

The weirdest things we learned this week: Falcon sex hats and buying human skulls on Instagram

The weirdest things we learned this week: Falcon sex hats and buying human skulls on Instagram

By Rachel Feltman

an illustration of a melting planet earth covered in lush trees and leaves

An ancient era of global warming could hint at our scorching future

Soldier termites marching

These photos are proof that evolution is wild and wondrous

By Popular Science Team

a colorful illustration of long-tailed gray rodents carrying assorted objects such as buttons, bones, bugs, and flowers

What’s in a packrat’s petrified pee? Just a few thousand years of secrets.

By Jason Bittel

an adult giraffe stands in the grass with a young giraffe

Giraffe grandmas help keep herds going

Mother and baby killer whale swimming in ocean with mountains in the background.

These killer whales go through menopause

Your Nose Is Bad At Warming Air

By Alexandra Ossola

Elizabeth Kolbert On The Vanishing Of Species

Elizabeth Kolbert On The Vanishing Of Species

A 3-D rendering of a human-like skull faces forward against a black background. The skull is a tan color and has a pronounced brow ridge, large nose cavity, and square-ish eye sockets. The lower jaw is absent.

The debate over ‘Dragon Man’ shows that human origins are still kind of messy

By Lauren Leffer

A furry looking, ground-hog like creature climbs onto a rock from the forest floor surrounded by leaf litter and tree saplings at night.

Elephants can add a cuddly new cousin to their family tree

By Lauren Leffer

A person wearing a baseball cap and tan jacket holds a pair of green, silver, and yellow pruning shears up to a tree branch, read to cut.

Humans have become the biggest selection force in evolution

By Lauren Leffer