Starfish: rare fossil helps answer the mystery of how they evolved arms

New study sheds light on how the starfish evolved.

Aaron W Hunter, Science Guide & Tutor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge • conversation
Jan. 20, 2021 ~6 min

Parasites: what causes some species to evolve to exploit others

Even the most mutually-beneficial evolutionary relationship can turn sour.

Louise Gentle, Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University • conversation
Jan. 19, 2021 ~7 min


Vampire finches: how little birds in the Galápagos evolved to drink blood

Finches have evolved to feed off blood from red-footed and Nazca boobies – and we've seen it first-hand.

Jaime Chaves, Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolution, San Francisco State University • conversation
Jan. 15, 2021 ~7 min

What you need to know about the new COVID-19 variants

A biologist who studies the evolution of diseases explains what's different about the two new virus strains that have been found recently, and what that means for vaccine effectiveness.

David Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Biology, Penn State • conversation
Jan. 15, 2021 ~7 min

Vampire finches: how little birds in the Galápagos got a taste for big bird blood

Finches have evolved to feed off blood from red-footed and Nazca boobies – and we've seen it first-hand.

Jaime Chaves, Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolution, San Francisco State University • conversation
Jan. 15, 2021 ~7 min

Dire wolves went extinct 13,000 years ago but thanks to new genetic analysis their true story can now be told

Our research shows dire wolves lived in the tropics not the Arctic, and were not especially close relatives of the grey wolf.

Laurent Frantz, Professor of Palaeogenomics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich • conversation
Jan. 13, 2021 ~6 min

Crocodiles today look the same as they did 200 million years ago – our study explains why

New research shows crocodiles have landed upon an equilibrium state of evolution.

Max Stockdale, Teaching Associate, Vertebrate Macroevolution and Palaeoecology, University of Bristol • conversation
Jan. 7, 2021 ~6 min

A tropical fish evolved to endure rising temperatures – but it may not be fast enough to survive climate change

Species can evolve to tolerate higher temperatures – but there's a ceiling beyond which adaptation isn't possible.

Rachael Morgan, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Ecophysiology, University of Glasgow • conversation
Dec. 15, 2020 ~5 min


Is our most distant animal relative a sponge or a comb jelly? Our study provides an answer

Over the past ten years, scientists have argued about what the earliest animal really was.

Paschalia Kapli, Research Fellow in Genetics, Evolution & Environment, UCL • conversation
Dec. 11, 2020 ~7 min

Why do scientists care about worms?

'Worm' is really a catchall term for a huge variety of animals with different characteristics that span the tree of life. They hold clues about our own origins as well as hints about human health.

Helen Robertson, Postdoctoral Scholar of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago • conversation
Dec. 10, 2020 ~7 min

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