evolution

Surviving fragments of genetic material preserved in sediments allow scientists to see the full diversity of past life — even microbes.

For more than six decades, the influential biologist Edward O. Wilson has drawn connections between evolution, ecology and behavior, often sparking controversies inside and outside of science.

Skyrocketing animal diversity a half-billion years ago was linked to spikes and dips in marine oxygen levels, according to a detailed geological study.

The rainbow of pigments that animals use for blood illustrates a central truth of evolution.

Researchers are beginning to understand the ways in which viruses strategically manipulate and cooperate with one another.

New studies revise ideas about the symbiosis that gave mitochondria to cells and about whether the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes was one cell or many.

Researchers hope that the genes of a glowing squid can illuminate how animals evolved organs for beneficial bacteria.

With the help of deep learning techniques, paleoanthropologists find evidence of long-lost branches on the human family tree.

If highly repetitive gene-regulating sequences in DNA are easily lost, that may explain why some adaptations evolve quickly and repeatedly.