Topic description and stories

New starfish-like fossil reveals evolution in action

20 Jan 2021

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered a fossil of the earliest starfish-like animal, which helps us understand the origins of...

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Scelidosaurus: ready for its closeup at last

26 Aug 2020

The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a...

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Figure from the PNAS paper showing the transmission routes using phylogenetic networks

COVID-19: genetic network analysis provides ‘snapshot’ of pandemic origins

09 Apr 2020

Study charts the 'incipient supernova' of SARS-CoV-2 through genetic mutations as it spread from China and Asia to Australia, Europe and North...

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‘Wonderchicken’ fossil from the age of dinosaurs reveals origin of modern birds

18 Mar 2020

The oldest fossil of a modern bird yet found, dating from the age of dinosaurs, has been identified by an international team of palaeontologists.

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Half billion-year-old 'social network' observed in early animals

05 Mar 2020

Some of the first animals on Earth were connected by networks of thread-like filaments, the earliest evidence yet found of life being connected in...

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‘Game-changing’ research could solve evolution mysteries

11 Sep 2019

An evolution revolution has begun after scientists extracted genetic information from a 1.7 million-year-old rhino tooth – the largest and oldest...

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Butterfly co-mimic pairs from the species Heliconius erato (odd columns) and Heliconius melpomene (even columns). Illustrated butterflies are sorted by greatest similarity (along rows, top left to bottom right)

AI used to test evolution’s oldest mathematical model

14 Aug 2019

Researchers have used artificial intelligence to make new discoveries, and confirm old ones, about one of nature’s best-known mimics, opening up...

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Gorillas found to live in 'complex' societies, suggesting deep roots of human social evolution

10 Jul 2019

Algorithms reveal “social tiers” in gorillas seen in only a few other species, such as dolphins and humans. Researchers suggest that some of these...

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L-R: Knysna Turaco, Great Blue Turaco, Knysna Turaco

Past climate change pushed birds from the northern hemisphere to the tropics

10 Jun 2019

Researchers have shown how millions of years of climate change affected the range and habitat of modern birds, suggesting that many groups of...

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 Galapagos finch specimens from Museum of Zoology, collected on the second voyage of HMS Beagle that carried Darwin to the Islands. Researchers say these famously diverse finches are an iconic example of rapid speciation in the tropics.

Species ‘hotspots’ created by immigrant influx or evolutionary speed depending on climate

06 Feb 2019

New research reveals that biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in the tropics produced new species at faster rates over the last 25 million years, but those in...

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Professor Eske Willerslev with Donna and Joey, two members of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribe.

Ancient DNA analysis unlocks secrets of Ice Age tribes in the Americas

09 Nov 2018

Scientists have sequenced 15 ancient genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia and were able to track the movements of the first humans as they...

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Sexton beetle and larva.

Neglected baby beetles evolve greater self-reliance

28 Sep 2018

A new study reveals that when burying beetle larvae are denied parental support, they evolve bigger jaws to compensate.

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