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Missing Mutations Suggest a Reason for Sex
Sex might help natural selection purge excessive mistakes from our genes.
Why Are There Two Sexes?
Asexual reproduction can produce twice as many offspring as sexual reproduction without the hassle of finding and courting a mate. So why do most complex animals have two sexes? Why not three?
How Nature Solves Problems Through Computation
The evolutionary biologist Jessica Flack seeks the computational rules that groups of organisms use to solve problems.
Can Microbes Encourage Altruism?
If gut bacteria can sway their hosts to be selfless, it could answer a riddle that goes back to Darwin.
Moonlighting Genes Evolve for a Venomous Job
An unexpected mechanism allows wasps to rapidly co-opt genes for new toxic functions.
The Thorny Truth About Spine Evolution
A definitive explanation for why plants evolved spines remains elusive, and human biases compound the problem.
Solution: ‘Darwinian Evolution Explains Lamarckism’
How Darwinian natural selection can produce and sustain a Lamarckian “inheritance of acquired characteristics.”
The Thoughts of a Spiderweb
Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head.
Can Darwinian Evolution Explain Lamarckism?
Answering three questions can help reveal how the “inheritance of acquired characteristics” fits into modern evolutionary theory.