Evolution

From fleas to mosquitoes, there's no shortage of organisms we consider pests. But thanks to new genetic detective work, scientists have named and shamed the resilient, highly adaptive – and frustratingly hard to kill – bug that got to us first.

An elusive nocturnal beast of a rat that lives high up a mountain has been filmed and caught for the first time, in what is akin to winning the zoology lottery. It's only been seen once in 30 years, and all we know of it stem from old museum specimens.

A question from a curious kid quickly led a team of scientists down a research rabbit hole – one that has now culminated in fascinating new knowledge about our water-wrinkled fingertips. And there's more to this discovery than a cool piece of trivia.

A new study published in the journal Evolution is challenging the prevailing belief that evolution is a one-way process. The findings suggest some species of fern can evolve backward, reverting to a more primitive form when the environment demands it.

If you ever travel back in time around 41,000 years ago, pack some sunscreen. New research suggests that during a cataclysmic polar reversal, our ancestors might have covered themselves in mineral-rich ochre to survive harmful solar radiation.

Each year lightning kills hundreds of millions of trees worldwide, leaving behind scorched trunks and shattered branches, but one species of tropical tree in Panama has turned this destructive force of nature to their advantage.

You don't often find crowds flocking to take in the pungent scent of rotting flesh, yet that's just what happens when a corpse flower blooms at a public garden. But this iconic endangered plant is now facing a new threat – our aversion to paperwork.

Astrophysicists have done a bit of crime scene investigation. They’ve traced radioactive elements on the seafloor back to the cosmic explosions they might have come from – and potentially linked the event to evolutionary changes in viruses in Africa.

A preserved tree fossil gives an unprecedented view into a moment 42,000 years ago when the Earth’s magnetic field went haywire, triggering environmental chaos, influencing everything from an increase in cave paintings to the Neanderthal extinction.

New research is offering some of the clearest insights into the physiological effect of loneliness ever gathered. The findings reveal a lack of social contact can shrink parts of your brain and flood your body with inflammatory proteins.

We often see the results of evolution, but not the process directly. Now, scientists have witnessed evolution unfolding in real time, as two similar lizard species encounter each other for the first time and quickly adapt to fill different roles.

A new discovery in Kenya shows that ancient human relatives crossed paths – literally. Paleontologists have discovered the first known example of fossil footprints left by two different species of ancient hominins on the same day.