You probably think you know how giraffe necks evolved. Maybe the ancestors of giraffes ate leaves from trees, and the ones who could reach the most leaves were the fittest, and therefore passed that trait down to the silly looking long-necked animals we see today. But scientists don’t know that—in fact, there are at…
Normally, we think of evolution as a good thing for a species. Humans, we evolved to walk on two legs and talk and stuff. Bacteria evolve to overcome whatever new antibiotic we try to throw at them. But it appears that, for wooly rhinos, evolution decided “lol, no.”
When pallid bats are stung by an Arizona bark scorpion, they shrug it off as if nothing even happened, which is odd considering this predatory arachnid is the most venomous scorpion in all of North America. New research explains how this unusual level of immunity is possible—a finding that could translate to an…
Burying beetles (Nicrophorus) are hard to miss. The insects aren’t big, but most species are painted with vibrant, orange blotches on a glossy black background. According to new research, walking around dressed in their Halloween best may have a much more important function for the beetles than just looking like …
Below the tangle of vines and branches of the East Malaysian rainforest, a small contingent of ants scuttles frenetically along the shaded leaf litter. But these are no mere picnic pests—these are Myrmoteras trap-jaw ants, fearsome predators armed with long, spiky, widely-agape mandibles—and they are on the hunt.…
All living whales are descended from terrestrial mammals, but how these aquatic creatures evolved into giant filter-feeders remains a biological mystery. New research shows that ancient whales had razor-sharp teeth similar to land-based carnivores—an observation that’s upsetting a prevailing idea that ancient whales…
An unstudied ichthyosaur fossil dating back to the Jurassic period is now the largest on record—a remarkably well-preserved specimen that also contains the remnants of a developing fetus.
Scientists have uncovered the fossilized remains of an unusual species of dolphin that lived 30 million years ago in what is now South Carolina. These extinct aquatic mammals measured just three feet in length, they featured short snouts, and perhaps strangest of all, they had no teeth.
Being bitten by an Australian tiger snake is a wholly unpleasant experience. Within minutes, you start to feel pain in your neck and lower extremities—symptoms that are soon followed by tingling sensations, numbness, and profuse sweating. Breathing starts to become difficult, paralysis sets in, and if left untreated,…
During the 65 million years following the extinction of the dinosaurs, the success story of the mammals has been more than a little imbalanced. Eutherians (placental mammals like dogs, horses, you and I) had an evolutionary rager, exploding in diversity and filling vacant ecological roles across the Northern…
If you have to smash your head all the time, you’d hope that your body had some mechanism to prevent your brain from rattling out. Knock that noggin around enough, and eventually (on evolutionary scales, that is), you might end up looking, well, very silly.
Sea snakes are a striking sight on the sun-dappled Pacific and Indian Ocean coral reefs they call home. They swim with deliberate, yet graceful winding movements above the reef, and they are often conspicuously-colored, with many species sporting patterns flush with yellows, oranges, and blues, broken up by stripes,…
Fossils of ancient apes are even rarer than those of ancient humans, so very little is known about these important evolutionary missing links. The unexpected discovery of a 13 million-year-old infant ape skull in Kenya is offering a tantalizing glimpse of a new species that lived well before humans and apes embarked…
We typically think of evolution as an agonizingly gradual process, but there are occasions when nature compels species to move at a quicker pace. By studying a population of lizards both before and after a particularly severe cold snap, scientists have documented natural selection in fast motion, where the surviving…
Spiders in the family Migidae don’t get out much. Known as “tree trapdoor spiders,” they are unapologetic homebodies, spending nearly their entire lives chilling in a single burrow. Unlike their close, but much more famous relatives the tarantulas, tree trapdoor spiders are teeny, with most species small enough to fit…
You’re probably aware that nature’s most badass animal is undoubtedly the tiny tardigrade, or water bear. They might be small, but unlike your weak butt, they can live a life without water, withstand temperatures from -328 to 304 degrees Fahrenheit, and even survive the depths of space. How did evolution make such a…
It is likely that you, a human, can tell when your fellow humans are upset based on the sound of their voice. You might even be able to tell when your non-human pet is upset. But what about non-mammals, like frogs? What about birds?
The fossilized remains of a tiny bird that lived 62 million years ago suggests that birds burst out of the evolutionary gates once their dinosaur cousins were gone, rapidly diversifying into most of the lineages we see today.
Lots of creatures glow in the ocean’s depths, where sunlight is slim to nil. But while most of these abyssal lightbulbs use their neon powers to hunt or avoid being hunted, deepwater corals may have beat everything else down there in terms of evolutionary creativity. New research indicates these corals glow in order…
In the caterpillar-versus-plant fight, the winner might seem obvious. One side sits motionless in the sun, while the other feasts on it. But the tomato plant has a nefarious defense strategy. In some encounters with herbivores, it winds up relatively unscathed, while the caterpillars wind up eating each other.
