Evolution

On an island in South Florida, scientists use trials to see how natural selection drives evolution in real time.

The discovery of a fossil species suggests that the story of birds started about 20 million years earlier than we thought.

Scientists have found that many of the species known for their spectacular plumage are biofluorescent, meaning they absorb and release light through their bodies.

These amphibians evolved unique strategies to move around the canopies of the world's tallest trees.

Scientists are studying its bowel movements, its dazzling sparkle, and its relation to us.

Not only is alcohol consumed widely in nature, it may have played a role in human evolution.

The ichnofossil, or trace fossil, is more than 150,000 years old.

As the sun goes down when you're camping, every sound can seem like a threat. Blame evolution—and our phones.

The massive supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago has been blamed for nearly killing off our species. The emerging truth is much more interesting.

Spike-toothed salmon grew nearly nine feet long and sported tusk-like teeth.

For decades, East Africa was considered the birthplace of our species. Fossils from Morocco suggest otherwise.

These mollusks evolved to mosey along at a particularly ponderous pace—the reasons why may surprise you.

A subtle, if temporary, change to one of the world’s biggest websites underscored a modern triumph of paleontology, and how we understand life on Earth.

All you need is a jar of local water and a microscope—you may even find new species. Welcome to Algae Obscura.

A marine reptile fossil from Svalbard challenges ideas about evolution and Earth’s greatest mass extinction.

The monstrous menace known as Whatcheeria hints that our distant ancestors may have been more like us than we thought.

What a toxic Andean lake has to say about the dawn of life.

A creepy form of parasitism is one of evolution's favorite strategies, and scientists are starting to figure out how it works.