The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. Figure 3: Shh is necessary and sufficient for clasper formation. The alternative text for this image may have been generated using ...

Cartilaginous fishes, like sharks and rays, are blessed with something called “claspers,” dual sperm-releasing tubes jutting from their pelvic fins. Why two? Thanks to a recent study published in the ...

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. We thank M. Siverson for access to specimens at the Western Australian Museum. J.L. and K.T. are supported by Australian Research ...

Fish fossils push back the origin of copulation in backboned animals and suggest that it was a key turning point in our evolution On a hot August day in 2005 my team and I were out hunting for fish ...

Fossils can tell scientists a lot about an animal such as their morphology, their environment, and where to place them in the tree of life. One thing though that's very difficult to observe in the ...

We humans like to explore the world, but sometimes we even find surprises in our own bodies. Take the mesentery, a membrane that attaches the intestine to the abdominal wall. A new study claims the ...

Origins of life The sexual act where two creatures physically join together to create new life first began 385 million years ago, according to a new fossil study. The extinct Devonian-age armoured ...