Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Fossils

Baby pterosaurs may have been able to fly right after hatching

A bone crucial for lift-off was stronger in hatchling pterosaurs than in adults. The baby reptiles also had shorter, broader wings than grown-ups.

Animals

Tiny animals survive 24,000 years in suspended animation

Tiny bdelloid rotifers awake from a 24,000-year slumber when freed from the Arctic permafrost.

Microbes

Explainer: Virus variants and strains

When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain.

Genetics

Just a tiny share of the DNA in us is unique to humans

Some of these tweaks to DNA, however, may have played a role in brain evolution.

Life

Even raised by people, wolves don’t tune into you like your dog

Dog puppies outpace wolf pups at engaging with humans, even with less exposure to people, supporting the idea that domestication changed dogs’ brains.

Earth

New beetle species found in fossil poop of this dino relative

Whole beetles preserved in fossilized reptilian poop suggest that ancient droppings may deserve a closer look.

Fossils

Dinosaur families appear to have lived in the Arctic year-round

Fossils of baby dinosaurs in northern Alaska challenge the idea that northern dinosaurs only spent their summers in the high Arctic.

Fossils

Ancient creature revealed as lizard, not a teeny dinosaur

CT scans of 99-million-year-old fossils of hummingbird-sized specimens trapped in amber reveal a number of lizardlike features.

Archaeology

Fossils unearthed in Israel reveal possible new human ancestor

They come from a previously unknown Stone Age group that may represent a complex mashup of early members of our genus Homo.

Animals

Let’s learn about dinosaurs’ fearsome neighbors

Dinosaurs may get much of our attention, but there were plenty of other interesting critters during the Age of Reptiles, including our mammal ancestors.

Animals

Let’s learn about whales and dolphins

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are all cetaceans — mammals that live in water and have a streamlined body similar to a fish.

Health & Medicine

Will we all need COVID-19 booster shots?

Experts say not yet, but booster vaccines may be coming as new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants keep emerging.