A major evolutionary theory says most genetic changes don’t really matter, but new evidence suggests that’s not true. Researchers found that helpful mutations happen surprisingly often. The twist is ...

This article is a summary of Roy Ratcliffe’s recently released book ‘Life on Earth’ (Past, Present and Future)’. Of all the millions of species of life that have existed on earth over billions of ...

The researchers think the pattern they observed in ants reflects a more universal trend in the evolution of societal ...

Up-to-date computational pipeline characterizes G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) repertoires in the closest relatives of metazoans, providing a framework to investigate the evolutionary origins and ...

A new study published in Science Advances reveals evidence of electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals. This elaborate example of ...

The origin of organisms with complex cells, known as eukaryotes, is one of the most crucial parts of life’s evolutionary story. All animals, plants, and fungi are eukaryotes, and if complex cells had ...

Fungi arose long before plants, shaping Earth with early soils and nutrient cycles. Their hidden legacy shows they may have prepared the world for life to flourish on land. Credit: Shutterstock ...

In 1758, Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus gave humans a scientific name: Homo sapiens, which means "wise human" in Latin. Although Linnaeus grouped humans with other apes, it was English biologist ...

Single-celled organisms that group together can generate stronger water currents to pull in food, a benefit that may have encouraged early life forms to assemble into colonies, according to a new ...

Humans often view being multicellular as an advantage, but most life on Earth is single-celled, thriving in extreme conditions. The evolution of multicellular life, starting about 2.5 billion years ...

The mystery of how multicellular life evolved has long baffled scientists, who've spent years trying to understand how solitary single-celled organisms began living in unison and triggered the ...