Far beneath the surface of the ocean lies the largest and least explored habitat on Earth. The deep sea is cold, dark, highly ...

Fungi represent one of the most ancient and diverse branches of the eukaryotic tree of life, with origins tracing back over a billion years. Through the integration of molecular phylogenetics, fossil ...

When Charles Darwin traveled to the Galapagos Islands almost 200 years ago as a gentleman naturalist, he used the power of observation to develop his theory that species evolve over time. Today, ...

Genetic diversity among great apes reflects a complex interplay of mutation, selection and demographic shifts that has shaped the evolutionary paths of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.

In the geological past, several groups of crocodiles evolved towards a morphology adapted to marine life. However, the extent of these adaptations and their evolutionary trajectories remained unknown.

Movement defines life across the animal kingdom. From a fish cutting through water to a bird taking flight, muscles power ...

Humans evolved large brains and flat faces at a surprisingly rapid pace compared to other apes, likely reflecting the evolutionary advantages of these traits, finds a new analysis of ape skulls by UCL ...

The way that Earth's first animals reproduced held back life's diversity for millions of years, until stress and competition led to the development of sexual reproduction, which in turn accelerated ...

An updated evolutionary model shows that living systems evolve in a split-and-hit-the-gas dynamic, where new lineages appear in sudden bursts rather than during a long marathon of gradual changes.

Far beneath the surface of the ocean lies the largest and least explored habitat on Earth. The deep sea is cold, dark, highly pressurised – and home to a huge amount of undiscovered life. The first ...