Using the fossil record to accurately estimate the timing and pace of past mass extinctions is no easy task, and a new study highlights how fossil evidence can ...
Humans and other primates are outliers among mammals for having nails instead of claws. But how, when and why we transitioned from claws to nails has been an evolutionary head-scratcher.
Now, new fossil evidence shows that ancient primates – inclu...
Imagine that Labradors and golden retrievers died out a million years ago, leaving only fossilized skeletons behind. Without the help of DNA, how could we deter...
For hundreds of years, butterfly collecting has often inspired a special kind of fanaticism, spurring lengthy expeditions, sparking rivalries and prompting some...
An international team of scientists has mapped the evolutionary relationships between China’s 30,000 flowering plant species, uncovering a distinct regional pattern in biodiversity. Eastern China is a floral “museum” with a rich array of ancient line...
Butterflies fly during the day while moths travel at night – or so you might think. In reality, their behavior is much more complicated.
A new Florida Museum...
Sea snakes are an evolutionary success story. With about 70 species, they’re the most diverse reptile group in the ocean, outnumbering sea turtle species 10-to-...
When trouble looms, the fish-scale geckos of Madagascar resort to what might seem like an extreme form of self-defense — tearing out of their own skin.
Their unusually large, overlapping scales flake off so easily that one biologist in the late 18...
The mass extinction that obliterated three-fourths of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs, set the stage for the swift rise of frogs, a new study shows...
