evolution

A 50 thousand year-old love story between humans and Neanderthals

8:37am December 16, 2024

Tens of thousands of years ago, modern humans mated with Neanderthals. But exactly how and when that happened, and who those groups of humans were, was less known. New research adds some clues.

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Caecilians are amphibians that look superficially like very large earthworms. New research suggests that at least one species of caecilian also produces "milk" for its hatchlings.

Researchers have found an amphibian that makes milk for its babies

2:33pm March 07, 2024

by Geoff Brumfiel

The snake-like amphibian is native to Brazil. Researchers say the milk in many ways resembles that produced by mammals.

Scientists have identified a fossil of an herbivorous dinosaur, Psittacosaurus, being bitten by a mammal, Repenomamus.

Science

This fossil of a mammal biting a dinosaur captures a death battle's final moments

7:27pm July 18, 2023

by Ari Daniel

A 125-million-year-old fossil from the early Cretaceous shows the skeletons of a smaller mammal biting a larger horned dinosaur, suggesting a much more complex ancient food web.

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About 6,500 mammal species live on Earth today. Credit from left to right: John Moore/Getty Images; Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP via Getty Images; Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images; Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Science

Welcome to the mammalverse: Scientists sequence DNA from 240 species around the world

4:43pm April 27, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Researchers have examined the genomes of 240 mammal species. The project reveals when mammals evolved, how some developed the ability to hibernate, and clues that may help explain humans' brains.

A new study finds that bumblebees can learn how to solve puzzles from each other.

Science

Can insects have culture? Puzzle-solving bumblebees show it's possible

6:03pm March 07, 2023

by Ari Daniel

A new study in PLOS Biology finds that bumblebees can learn to solve puzzles from each other — suggesting that even invertebrate animals may have a capacity for culture.

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Gabriel Jorgewich Cohen began researching whether turtle species — and other vertebrates thought to be mute — make sounds by recording his own pet turtles. The hydrophone used for recording can be seen on the left.

Science

Dozens of species were assumed to be mute — until they were recorded making sounds

3:36pm November 03, 2022

by Laurel Wamsley

Some animals like birds and frogs are famous for the sounds they make. But have you ever heard a turtle talk? Most turtles were thought to not make sounds at all — before researchers went deep.

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Lightning may have played a key role in the emergence of life on Earth.

Science

How A Building Block Of Life Got Created In A Flash

4:37pm March 16, 2021

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Lightning strikes may have supplied a key ingredient that allowed life to emerge on early Earth, according to a new study of "fossilized" lightning.

Augustine of Hippo was among those in the Catholic Church who championed its eventual rejection of intrafamily marriages, which researchers say may have paved the way for a breakdown of extended family networks in Western Europe.

Western Individualism May Have Roots In The Medieval Church's Obsession With Incest

6:15pm November 07, 2019

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Researchers combed Vatican archives to find records of how ancient church policies restricting whom one could marry shaped Western values and family structures today.

A California two-spot octopus extends a sucker-lined arm from its den. In 2015, this was the first octopus species to have its full genetic sequence published.

Why Octopuses Might Be The Next Lab Rats

5:29pm June 03, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Move over, fruit flies, rats and zebrafish. Squid and octopuses have elaborate brains and behaviors, and scientists say studying them in the laboratory could yield important biological insights.

Living Near Your Grandmother Has Evolutionary Benefits

6:03pm February 07, 2019

by Jonathan Lambert

Humans are evolutionary oddballs for living long past our reproductive prime. New research explains how grandmothers might be the reason why.