Evolution

12 Articles
Chipmunk
EcologyEvolution

What Chicago’s rodents are teaching us about Evolution

Can animals evolve fast enough to keep up with the changing city? A new study on chipmunks and voles in Chicago digs deep—literally...

Coelacanth
AnatomyAnimal DiversityEvolution

We were wrong! Coelacanth is reshaping our evolutionary story

For decades, the African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) has been hailed as a “living fossil,” a rare window into the deep evolutionary past of...

EvolutionPaleontology

Ancestor of all placental mammals was an insect eater

Placental mammals were early insectivores and lived along with dinosaurs in the Late cretaceous. During cretaceous mass extinction, dinosaurs became extinct and opened...

AnatomyAnimal DiversityEvolutionPaleontology

This ancient bird hatchling preserved in amber provides insights into early bird evolution

Scientists have recently made an incredible discovery of a piece of amber that contained well preserved remains of an alomost complete bird hatchling....

BiochemistryEcologyEvolutionFeaturedPhysiology

What makes poison dart frog resistant to their own poison?

Poison dart frogs store Batrachotoxin, a steroidal alkaloid toxin in their skin glands. A single amino acid substitution is responsible for the resistance...

Animal DiversityEvolutionFeaturedPaleontology

New ant species discovered with metal reinforced mouth parts

These predatory ants must have fed on soft bodied animals. When they encounter their prey, their clypeal hairs touch its body. This triggers...

AnatomyAnimal DiversityEvolutionMarine Biology

Tentacles and Beaks of Cephalopods

A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural κεφαλόποδα, kephalópoda; “head-feet”). These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral...