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A Cape ground squirrel sits upright on its hind legs, holding its forelimbs up to its face.
Animals Are Shape-Shifting in Response to a Warming World
Forced to respond to a climate that’s changing faster than it ever has, it remains unclear whether species’ adaptations can keep pace.
Animals Are Shape-Shifting in Response to a Warming World
Animals Are Shape-Shifting in Response to a Warming World

Forced to respond to a climate that’s changing faster than it ever has, it remains unclear whether species’ adaptations can keep pace.

Forced to respond to a climate that’s changing faster than it ever has, it remains unclear whether species’ adaptations can keep pace.

climate change, evolution

Adélie penguin family
Penguins Are Among the World’s Slowest-Evolving Birds: Study
Catherine Offord | Jul 19, 2022 | 2 min read
The findings mean that penguins may struggle to adapt under rapid climate change, researchers say.
Steam rises from a blue-gray hot spring, visible beyond a patch of reddish, rocky soil.
Soil Microbes Sacrifice Ribosomes in Response to Warming
Sophie Fessl, PhD | Mar 29, 2022 | 4 min read
When soil heats up, microbes scale back protein synthesis machinery by making use of higher reaction rates that occur at higher temperatures, a study finds.
Sunflowers, in visible spectrum on left half (yellow colors) and UV spectrum on right half (purple and white colors).
Sunflowers’ Bee-Attracting Ultraviolet Also Helps Retain Moisture
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Feb 8, 2022 | 5 min read
The dual purposes of the plants’ hidden colors may conflict as the climate warms, authors of a new study suggest.
A ship off the coast of Antarctica approaches a beach
Q&A: How to Keep Antarctica Safe from Invasive Species
Dan Robitzski | Nov 23, 2021 | 8 min read
The Scientist spoke with University of Wollongong ecologist Dana Bergstrom about protecting the continent’s native plants and animals in the face of climate change and a growing human presence.
Fossils of African Fauna
African, Arabian Mammals Didn’t Escape Grande Coupure Extinction
Chloe Tenn | Nov 8, 2021 | 2 min read
More than two-thirds of mammals in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula went extinct during the Eocene-Oligocene transition some 30 million years ago, a study finds.
Tardigrades’ List of Super Powers Grows Ever Longer
Ashley Yeager | Jan 1, 2021 | 4 min read
Water bears can survive extreme temperatures, oxidative stress, UV radiation, and more, but as work in climate change biology shows, they’re not invulnerable to everything.
hominin homo sapiens heidelbergensis erectus evolution climate change extinction
Climate Change Helped Drive Homo sapiens’ Cousins Extinct: Study
Katarina Zimmer | Oct 15, 2020 | 6 min read
Sharp drops in global temperatures helped seal the fate of three extinct hominin species, including our close relatives, the Neanderthals, according to thousands of archaeological specimens and a model of past climate conditions.
Circadian Clock Genes Help a Crop Pest Adapt to Climate Change
Emily Makowski | Jan 13, 2020 | 3 min read
As global temperatures rise and winters shorten, caterpillars of the corn borer moth are emerging earlier in parts of the US thanks to changes in two genes, researchers find.
Reanalyzed Fossils Could Be Last Known Homo erectus Specimens
Emily Makowski | Dec 18, 2019 | 1 min read
A mass death event claimed the hominins’ lives and likely resulted from changing environmental conditions.
Coral Reef Scientist Ruth Gates Dies
Catherine Offord | Oct 31, 2018 | 2 min read
Gates was director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and a strong advocate for coral conservation.
Image of the Day: Water Flea
Sukanya Charuchandra | May 29, 2018 | 1 min read
A species of water flea in northern Belgium that helps keep algae in check is growing smaller and less abundant in urbanized areas. 
EPA’s Scott Pruitt Doesn’t Buy Evolution
Kerry Grens | Mar 4, 2018 | 1 min read
In audio files from 2005, the future Administrator of the EPA said there’s a lack of “sufficient scientific facts” to back the theory.
Image of the Day: Horseshoe Bat 
The Scientist and The Scientist Staff | Dec 4, 2017 | 1 min read
Factors such as humidity and temperature can affect how Rhinolophus clivosus use echolocation. 
Santa Fe School Board Opposes State Science Education Standards
Ashley P. Taylor | Oct 4, 2017 | 2 min read
Critics of the proposed curriculum say it leaves out important information relating to climate change and evolution.
Islands North of Antarctica Key to Fish Species Diversity
Shawna Williams | Jul 24, 2017 | 1 min read
Their waters served as refuges during ice ages, allowing for adaptation and the emergence of new species.
Trumping Science: Part II
Bob Grant | Dec 6, 2016 | 5 min read
As Inauguration Day nears, scientists and science advocates are voicing their unease with the Trump Administration’s potential effects on research.
Capsule Reviews
Bob Grant | Apr 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Lab Girl, The Most Perfect Thing, Half-Earth, and Cosmosapiens
Jason Holliday: Tree Tracker
Jef Akst | Feb 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Associate Professor, Virginia Tech, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. Age: 37
All Together Now
Mary Beth Aberlin | Jan 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Understanding the biological roots of cooperation might help resolve some of the biggest scientific challenges we face.
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