Evolution

Spot the impostor: A cuckoo finch chick (left) and a tawny-flanked prinia chick (right) open their beaks for a meal.

Parasitic Cuckoo Finches Use an Egg Overload to Evade Host Defenses

The more eggs a parasitic cuckoo finch lays in its host's nest, the more likely a discerning foster parent will accept the finch's young as its own

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How One Moth Species Can Jam Bats’ Sonar Systems

Bertholdia trigona, a moth native to the Arizona desert, emits ultrasonic clicks at a rate of 4,500 times per second to blur bats' acoustic vision

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears (magnified above with an electron microscope) to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward.

This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature

The small hopping insect <i>Issus coleoptratus</i> uses toothed gears on its joints to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward

A colorized microscopic image of a viral particle of the Ebola virus. The virus, which scientists believe originates in non-human primates, causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a deadly disease in humans, monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees.

A Minimum of 320,000 Mammalian Viruses Await Discovery

If we invested just $1.4 billion, we could discover 85 percent of all mammalian viruses, potentially lessening the impact of the next emerging disease

Unlike the chest-beating primates of popular imagination, Brazil’s northern muriquis are easygoing and highly cooperative.

Humans Would Be Better Off If They Monkeyed Around Like the Muriquis

Biologist Karen Strier has been studying these peace-loving Brazilian primates and their egalitarian lifestyle for decades

Could life on Earth have been born on Mars?

Did Life Come to Earth From Mars?

Mineralogical clues point to the idea that the early Earth, starved of oxygen and submerged by a vast ocean, needed molecules from Mars to kick start life

“I’d rather gnaw a bean than be gnawed by continual fear.”

Scientists Investigate Whether the City Mouse Is Smarter Than the Country Mouse

Contrary to biologists' expectations, critters living in cities don't always have an adaptive edge over their rural counterparts

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Why Do We Yawn and Why Is It Contagious?

Pinpointing exactly why we yawn is a tough task, but the latest research suggests that our sleepy sighs help to regulate the temperature of our brains

Our uncommon shoulder flexibility allows us to throw extremely fast, as compared to other primates—a trait we likely evolved two million years ago to aid with hunting.

How the Human Body Evolved to Throw Fastballs

Our shoulder flexibility allows us to hurl things at high speeds compared to other primates—a trait we likely evolved for hunting two million years ago

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Why We Should Study Cancer Like We Study Ecosystems

Like pine beetles sickening a forest as they spread, cancer can be seen as a disruption in the balance of a complex microenvironment in the human body

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Scientists Use Snails to Trace Stone Age Trade Routes in Europe

Why is a snail variety found only in Ireland and the Pyrenees? DNA analysis suggests that it hitched a boat ride with early travelers

Languages that evolve at high elevations are more likely to include a sound that’s easier to make when the air is thinner, new research shows.

Do Geography and Altitude Shape the Sounds of a Language?

Languages that evolve at high elevations are more likely to include a sound that's easier to make when the air is thinner, new research shows

The way a baby chimpanzee gestures to her mother resembles how a human infant interacts with its mother.

Gestures of Human and Ape Infants Are More Similar Than You Might Expect

Comparing the body language of baby chimps, bonobos and humans suggests that gesticulation came first in the evolution of speaking

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Scientists Discover the Genetic Reason Why Birds Don’t Have Penises

Developing bird embryos do have penis precursors, it turns out, but a genetic signal causes the penis cells to die off during gestation

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When Large Birds Disappear, Rainforests Suffer

A century after toucans and toucanets disappeared from patches of Brazilian jungle, trees have evolved to have smaller, weaker seeds

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Scientists Finally Pinpoint the Pathogen That Caused the Irish Potato Famine

DNA analysis of 166-year-old potato plant leaves has revealed the disease strain that caused the starvation of millions

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Solving an Alligator Mystery May Help Humans Regrow Lost Teeth

A gator can replace all of its teeth up to 50 times--learning what triggers these new teeth to grow may someday keep us from needing dentures

Helpless babe or capable professional navigator?

Baby Weddell Seals Have the Most Adult-Like Brains in the Animal Kingdom

The newborn seal pups possess the most well-developed brains compared to other mammals, but that advantage comes with a cost

How many unborn brothers and sisters did this sand tiger shark devour to be here today?

Baby Sand Tiger Sharks Devour Their Siblings While Still in the Womb

This seemingly horrific reproduction strategy may be a way for females to better control which males sire her offspring

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Why Women Like Deep Voices and Men Prefer High Ones

We find different pitches attractive because of the body size they signal—and a touch of breathiness is crucial to take the edge off deep voices in men

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