Smelling in stereo – the real reason snakes have flicking, forked tongues

Two tongue tips are better than one – an evolutionary biologist explains why snakes have forked tongues.

Kurt Schwenk, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut • conversation
June 16, 2021 • ~7 min

A new understanding of how the human brain controls our hands – new research

We studied people's brains while they held tools correctly and incorrectly.

Stephanie Rossit, Lecturer in Psychology, University of East Anglia • conversation
May 10, 2021 • ~6 min

How we discovered the oldest human burial in Africa – and what it tells us about our ancestors

Burials seem to have been uncommon in Africa some 80,000 years ago, although they were widespread in Eurasia.

Simon Armitage, Professor in Quaternary Science, Royal Holloway • conversation
May 5, 2021 • ~6 min

One incredible ocean crossing may have made human evolution possible

Given tens of millions of years, wildly improbable events – like primates crossing oceans – are almost a given.

Nicholas R. Longrich, Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology and Paleontology, University of Bath • conversation
April 29, 2021 • ~10 min

Animal adoptions make no evolutionary sense, so why do they happen?

Biologists are puzzled by evidence of animals that care for those from other social groups or even species.

Vivien Shaw, Lecturer in Anatomy, Bangor University • conversation
April 28, 2021 • ~6 min

Largest ever flying creatures had longer necks than giraffes – we found out how these pterosaurs kept their heads up

Gigantic flying reptiles had impressive wingspans of up to 12 metres – and a special trick in their necks.

Cariad Williams, PhD Candidate, Paleoentomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • conversation
April 14, 2021 • ~7 min

How colonialism transformed foxgloves – and why hummingbirds might have had a role

We studied how foxgloves taken to the Americas less than 200 years ago have changed compared to natives in Europe.

Maria Clara Castellanos, Lecturer in Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, University of Sussex • conversation
April 13, 2021 • ~6 min

How colonialism transformed foxgloves – and why hummingbirds might be the reason

We studied how foxgloves taken to the Americas less than 200 years ago have changed compared to natives in Europe.

Maria Clara Castellanos, Lecturer in Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, University of Sussex • conversation
April 13, 2021 • ~6 min

We studied the DNA of African and Asian leopards and found big differences between the two

We studied the genomes of African and Asian leopards using specimens from natural history museums.

Johanna L.A. Paijmans, Honorary Fellow, Palaeontology, University of Leicester • conversation
April 12, 2021 • ~7 min

Are we more closely related to starfish or insects? Our study questions 100 years of consensus

Scientists used to believe that a group containing starfish and sea urchin were the closest relatives of vertebrates like humans. But new research challenges this idea.

Paschalia Kapli, Research Fellow in Genetics, Evolution & Environment, UCL • conversation
March 31, 2021 • ~8 min

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