Using notes taken by Darwin himself, GW researchers uncovered the identity of the species, Leucauge argyrobapta, which will now help taxonomists understand the complicated lineage of orb-weaving spiders.
Early religion provided humans a way to relate to each other and the world around them, offering significant survival and reproductive advantages.
Pre-humans living in East Africa 4.4 million years ago inhabited grassy plains, not forests, a team of researchers has concluded.
A mass extinction of fish 360 million years ago hit the reset button on Earth's life, setting the stage for modern vertebrate biodiversity, a new study reports. The mass extinction scrambled the species pool near the time at which the first vertebrates crawled from water towards land, University of Chicago scientists report.
Biologists have been able to change the brain of a developing fish embryo to resemble that of another species.
A multicellular green alga, Volvox carteri, may have finally unlocked the secrets behind the evolution of different sexes. A team led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown that the genetic region that determines sex in Volvox has changed dramatically relative to that of the closely related unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Biologists long have known that both the appearance of organisms and their inner workings are shaped by evolution. But do the same genetic mechanisms underlie changes in form and function? A new study by scientists at the University of Michigan and Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes suggests not.
In a paper to appear in the May issue of American Naturalist, paleontologists explore how the ecological information provided by fossil assemblages is determined by their process of accumulation.
Which creationist was the most nauseating?
A fossil that was celebrated last year as a possible "missing link" between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University and the University of Chicago.
Science deniers, creationists, and their fellow travelers aren't just targeting evolution. Now they're turning their sights on global warming.
Twenty billion pieces of DNA in 100 small fish have opened the eyes of biologists studying evolution. After combining new technologies, researchers now know many of the genomic regions that allowed an ocean-dwelling fish to adapt to fresh water in several independently evolved populations.
"Friends of Darwin" take center stage.
Higher intelligence is associated with liberal political ideology, atheism, and men’s (but not women’s) preference for sexual exclusivity. More intelligent people are statistically more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences novel human evolutionary history.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design. Scientists discovered that receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken's ability to see color.
Bees prefer nectar with small amounts of nicotine and caffeine over nectar that does not comprise these substances at all, a study from the University of Haifa reveals. "This could be an evolutionary development intended, as in humans, to make the bee addicted," states Prof. Ido Izhaki, one of the researchers who conducted the study.
In the natural stream communities of Trinidad, guppy populations live close together, but evolve differently. Upstream, fewer predators mean more guppies but less food for each; they grow slowly and larger, reproduce later and less, and die older. Downstream, where predators thrive, guppies eat more, grow rapidly, stay small, reproduce quickly and die younger.
Male homosexuality doesn’t make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the “kin selection hypothesis.” Homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives.
The nectar of the almond tree produces an extraordinary and dangerous poison. This is the only known plant to have this poison in its flowers' nectar. A study carried out at the University of Haifa has revealed that bees are mysteriously drawn to the toxic substance.
During the Paleozoic era, the evolution of complex land plants forced the evolution of rivers from nothing but vast braided streams to the variety of different forms and sizes we see today according to researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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