evolution

Standard taxonomy lumps together bird species that should be separate, a new study suggests, raising the total number of estimated species from 9,000 to 18,000.

An analysis of ancient fish fossils suggests that mammalian and fish tails are fundamentally different structures, each with unique evolutionary histories.

As Inauguration Day nears, scientists and science advocates are voicing their unease with the Trump Administration’s potential effects on research.

A family’s collection of antique microscope slides became a trove of genetic information about the eradicated European malaria pathogen.

Spruce and pine and have relied on similar genetic toolkits for climate adaptation despite millions of years of evolution.

Scientists are enlisting the help of pigeons, parrots, crows, jays, and other species to disprove the notion that human cognitive abilities are beyond those of other animals.

Intricate, digital maps of animals’ teeth, created using the same geographical tools used by mapmakers, may help researchers determine the diets of extinct species.

Natural selection may be behind the dearth of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans.

A mutation that appeared early in the 2014 outbreak made the virus more infectious in humans, scientists show.

Susan Lindquist of MIT and the Whitehead Institute broke scientific ground on prions and heat shock proteins.

Report finds that pathologist involved in anonymous defamation case committed multiple acts of misconduct; growing eggs from stem cells; neutrophils’ role in metastasis; convergent evolution in birds

The unicellular ancestor of animals may have harbored some of the molecular tools that its many-celled descendants use to coordinate and direct cell differentiation and function, scientists show.

Umbrella flowers lure in flies by mimicking the alarm signals produced by the flies’ preferred prey.

Caffeine-producing plants use three different biochemical pathways and two different enzyme families to make the same molecule.

Researchers observe stingrays moving their jaws to grind up prey, a behavior thought to be restricted to mammals.

Environmental magnetite in the human brain; prion structure takes shape; watching E. coli evolve in real time; learning from others’ behavior 

As E. coli bacteria spread over increasingly concentrated antibiotics, researchers discover novel evolutionary pathways that confer resistance.

Scientists generate new protein-protein interactions at an impressive PACE.

A bacteriophage must evolve certain variants of a protein or die.

Overlooked for half a century, a skull in the Smithsonian collection points to a dolphin species that lived 25 million years ago, according to a study.