Evolution
Who Made the First Stone Tool Kits?
A nearly three-million-year-old butchering site packed with animal bones, stone implements and molars from our early ancestors reignites the debate
Fourteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2022
Smithsonian paleoanthropologists reveal the year’s most riveting findings about our close relatives and ancestors
Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2022 That May Lead to New Inventions
Nature is a breeding ground for innovative solutions to everything from aging to plastic pollution
‘Super-Resistant’ Mosquitoes Can Survive Insecticides in Southeast Asia
Researchers found high numbers of a genetic mutation linked to this resilience in Cambodia and Vietnam
How a 67-Million-Year-Old Fossil Turned the Theory of Bird Evolution Upside-Down
A skull bone suggests prehistoric birds could move their upper beaks, much like most modern birds
Watch These Rats 'Dance' to the Rhythms of Mozart, Lady Gaga and Queen
Moving accurately to a song’s beat was long thought to be a skill unique to humans, but new research suggests rats can do it, too
Scientists Thought These 53 Species Were Silent. Now, They’ve Recorded Their Sounds
Vocal communication may have evolved from a common ancestor some 407 million years ago
Charles Darwin's Rare Autographed Manuscript Could Sell for $800,000
The English naturalist was responding to a magazine editor who had asked for a handwriting sample
World's Oldest Vertebrate Fossil Heart Found in Australia
The 380-million-year-old heart came from a prehistoric fish that is our earliest jawed ancestor
Seven Million Years Ago, the Oldest Known Early Human Was Already Walking
Analysis of a femur fossil indicates that a key species could already move somewhat like us
The Evolutionary Trait That May Have Led to Human Speech
“Vocal membranes” in primates make their speech grating and unpredictable, study suggests. Humans have no such thing
The Done-Up Bird Gets the Worm
Starling chicks apply their preening oil as a lipstick to get more food from their parents
What Can Dancing Cockatoos Teach Us About Ourselves?
An evolutionary biologist demystifies bird intelligence in an excerpt from her new book
Why Did Europeans Evolve Into Becoming Lactose Tolerant?
Famine and disease from millennia ago likely spurred the rapid evolution of the trait on the continent
After Fish Developed Limbs, Some Might Have Returned to Swimming
Scientists think a recently discovered fossil is evidence that evolution is more like a branching tree than a ladder
Penguins Might Not Be Ready to Adapt to Modern Climate Change
A new study looking at genomes and the fossil record shows that penguins evolve slower than other birds
When Did Early Humans Start Using Fire? To Find Answers, Scientists Enlist Artificial Intelligence
By analyzing flint tools, researchers find new evidence of an 800,000-year-old fire in northern Israel
Wild Bats Can Recognize a Phone’s Ringtone Four Years Later
The findings could help researchers understand more about the advantages and disadvantages of long-term memory in animals
When Did Humans Domesticate the Horse?
Only recently have scientists discovered exactly when and where the animal went from wild to tame
Could Ants, Termites and Fishes Make Humans Better Farmers?
Scientists are now revealing the agricultural expertise that other species have cultivated for tens of millions of years