Animal Evolution : Discovery News

Strange Heads Evolved Before Unusual Bodies

Posted by Jennifer Viegas Wed Dec 21, 2011 09:45 AM ET | 0

Which evolved first -- heads or tails? Heads win, suggests new research. Read more

Climate Change Bulks Up Birds

Posted by Tim Wall Wed Nov 2, 2011 09:36 AM ET | 0

California birds are flying against the trend toward smaller animals and getting bigger with climate change. Read more

8.74 Million Species on Earth

Posted by Tim Wall Tue Aug 23, 2011 04:59 PM ET | 0

The estimate also comes with a price tag for describing all these Earth species, most of which are still unknown: $364 billion. Read more

Humans Vs. Neanderthals: How Did We Win?

Posted Tue Aug 9, 2011 07:05 AM ET | 0

How humans outpaced their relatives remains a mystery, but here's a look at some of the possible scenarios. Read more

How We Learned to Chew

Posted by Jessica Marshall Tue Jul 26, 2011 06:00 AM ET | 0

The muscles involved in chewing have undergone an alteration as animals transitioned from water to land. Read more

Whales Adapted Appetites to Survive Ice Age

Posted by Kieran Mulvaney Thu Jul 7, 2011 11:50 PM ET | 0

Gray whales changed their culinary habits to survive lower sea levels during ice ages. Read more

Whales Adapted Appetites to Survive Ice Age

First Signs of Lake Life Having Sex on the Beach

Posted by Tim Wall Fri Apr 15, 2011 08:08 AM ET | 0

Complicated love on the rocks, sand, and shoreline of ancient lakes made early life interesting. Read more

How Snakes Lost Their Legs

Posted by Jennifer Viegas Mon Feb 7, 2011 02:00 PM ET | 0

Snakes used to have legs, so what happened to them? Read more

Lack of Spare Species Leaves Ecosystems Flat

Posted by Tim Wall Tue Jan 11, 2011 01:45 PM ET | 0

Back-up species play a critical role in keeping populations from crashing. Read more

Giant Tuna Catch: Let the Big Ones Get Away?

Posted by Christina Reed Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:45 AM ET | 0

Catching that just-right-sized fish may help stocks grow big and plentiful. Read more

Earth's Extreme Life Knows No Bounds

Posted by Christina Reed Thu Dec 2, 2010 01:06 PM ET | 0

Manipulating microbes shows need to redefine life on Earth, again. Read more

Rainforest Demise Spurred Reptile Evolution

Posted by Tim Wall Wed Dec 1, 2010 09:50 AM ET | 0

Adding to the research that shows stressful environments create ideal conditions for diversification, global warming 300,000,000 years ago was a boon for reptiles. Read more

Rainforest Demise Spurred Reptile Evolution

Why is the Sky Blue? No, Seriously

Posted by Michael Reilly Thu Oct 14, 2010 03:10 PM ET | 0

Turns out we have 2-billion year old algae to thank for our beautiful blue atmosphere. Read more

Fossilized Feathers Reveal Ancient Penguins' Style: Big Pics

Posted Thu Sep 30, 2010 04:15 PM ET | 0

The discovery offers a glimpse into how these conversation icons evolved over millions of years. Read more

Ancient Animal Explosion Gets Bigger With New Finds

Posted by Larry O'Hanlon Thu Sep 9, 2010 10:04 AM ET | 0

Eight new kinds of the earliest animals from the Cambrian Explosion have been found in a newly explored section of ancient rock in Canada. Read more