We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

taxonomy

Latest Articles

an illustration of various objects (a chair, a rocket, a cell phone, etc.) as well as biological objects such as a DNA double-helix and microbe, all against a lime green background
The Joy of Why

What Is Life?

By Steven Strogatz
June 15, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Without a good definition of life, how do we look for it on alien planets? Steven Strogatz speaks with Robert Hazen, a mineralogist and astrobiologist, and Sheref Mansy, a chemist, to learn more.

Art for "What’s in a Name? Taxonomy Problems Vex Biologists"
taxonomy

What’s in a Name? Taxonomy Problems Vex Biologists

By Christie Wilcox
June 24, 2019
Comment
Read Later

Researchers struggle to incorporate ongoing evolutionary discoveries into an animal classification scheme older than Darwin.

Abstractions blog

What a Newfound Kingdom Means for the Tree of Life

By Jonathan Lambert
December 11, 2018
Comment
Read Later

Neither animal, plant, fungus nor familiar protozoan, a strange microbe that sits in its own “supra-kingdom” of life foretells incredible biodiversity yet to be discovered by new sequencing technologies.

Photo of Trichoplax adhaerens
genomics

World’s Simplest Animal Reveals Hidden Diversity

By Charlie Wood
September 12, 2018
Comment
Read Later

The first animal genus defined purely by genetic characters represents a new era for the sorting and naming of animals.

Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum leaf
botany

DNA Analysis Reveals a Genus of Plants Hiding in Plain Sight

By Olena Shmahalo
September 4, 2018
Comment
Read Later

Gene-sequence data is changing the way that botanists think about their classification schemes. A recent name-change for a common houseplant resulted from the discovery that it belonged in an overlooked genus.

New finch species "Big Bird "(offspring)
Abstractions blog

New Bird Species Arises From Hybrids, as Scientists Watch

By Jordana Cepelewicz
December 13, 2017
Comment
Read Later

The rapid, unorthodox emergence of a new finch in the Galápagos hints that speciation isn’t rare. New hybrid species may quietly appear and disappear without anyone noticing.

Lion, leopard, tiger
evolution

Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 24, 2017
Comment
Read Later

Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal species. Now conservationists are trying to reconcile that truth with policies.

Melpomene
genetics

As Animals Mingle, a Baffling Genetic Barrier

By Emily Singer
August 5, 2014
Comment
Read Later

Despite swapping DNA through interbreeding, butterflies and other animals can maintain distinct species.

genetics

A New Approach to Building the Tree of Life

By Emily Singer
June 4, 2013
Comment
Read Later

More genetic data is available than ever before to help build evolutionary trees, but scientists are finding that different genes even in the same organism can tell conflicting stories.

Follow Quanta
Facebook
Facebook

Twitter
Twitter

Youtube
YouTube

Instagram
Instagram

RSS
RSS

Newsletter

Past Month

Most Read Articles

This Data is Current Loading...
This Data is Current Loading...
This Data is Current Loading...
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023