Evolution – The Conversation

In 1866, the topic became so controversial that the Société de Linguistique de Paris banned discussions about language origins altogether.

Understanding how female baboons benefit from social bonds helps humans understand their own origins.

Want a deeper voice to sound more ‘manly’? Why faking it might appeal to other men, but not women.

Changes that took millions of years can now happen in a matter of decades, and this accelerated rhythm can be destructive, with dangerous consequences for the planet

The Arctic was not simply a cold edge of the Cretaceous world, but a place where mammals adapted, diversified, migrated and originated.

A handful of tiny fossil jaws fill a missing chapter in the evolutionary history of Australia’s most successful marsupial predators.

The Noronha skink arrived on the island millions of years ago from Africa, likely on floating masses of vegetation carried by ocean currents.

A new study of great ape laughter also gives clues about how humans’ ancient ancestors started speaking.

No one has ever seen one of these fish alive. But they are most likely still swimming in a part of the sea we hardly ever visit.

Tamarins and squirrel monkeys have babies with unspeakably large heads compared to their mother’s birth canal.

Dune flies have 41 different dance moves. Changing even one of them is rarer than you’d think.

To make sense of some characteristics that species exhibit from birth, you have to turn to an old discredited theory known as Lamarckism.

New research suggests crocodiles used to have hot blood and fast metabolisms, but gave it all up to lurk underwater waiting for prey.

Your fingers’ lengths are just one feature of many that let your hands grasp, press, pull and otherwise interact with the world.

Hummingbirds are responsible for some of the fastest evolution in the plant kingdom.

Researchers were surprised to find how widespread this magnetic property was, not only across families of bees but also beetles, wasps and flies.

It’s not just you – many people have been getting more intense about their pet cat over the decades.

Unlike all other mammals, seals can hear both in the air and underwater. How do they do this?

Snakes lost their limbs millions of years ago to become undulating, scaly tubes of muscles. Scientists are finally figuring out why.