Evolution News

A bird's eye view of speciation in the Neotropics How long does it take for a new species to develop? Not long, it turns out. In fact, only a few…

Jane Goodall. Photo by: Morten Bjarnhof/GANT. Famed primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall—whose image is known the world over—has joined the advisory board of mongabay.org. This is the non-profit branch of…

Scientists have long believed that gene flow and species dispersal is only interrupted by physical barriers, like mountain ranges, rivers or even the complete disappearance of a suitable habitat. But…

The slow loris may have evolved its venom as a mimic to deadly spectacled cobras A slow loris in a venom pose. Photo by: Andrew Walmsley. The bite of a…

The earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis). Barely seen since its description in 1878, the species has suddenly become a victim of wildlife trafficking for the pet trade. Photo by: Indraneil…

Researchers urge increased conservation attention for invertebrates, fragmented habitats A team of scientists from the United States and Germany has recently described seven new species of Malagasy giant pill-millipede. All…

Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and…

Decision-making ability linked to success in colonizing new environments Strong memory, being able to predict the future, and acting based on one’s surroundings are traits typically associated only with the…

Meet the world's newest elephant shrew: the Etendeka round-eared sengi. Photo by: Jack Dumbacher/California Academy of Sciences. Forget marsupials, the world's strangest group of mammals are actually those in the…

Specimen represents entirely new genus Researchers have discovered a new carnivorous water rat on the island of Sulawesi that's so unique it represents an entirely new genus. They believe many…

This is the story of three seals: the Caribbean, the Hawaiian, and the Mediterranean monk seals. Once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the Caribbean monk seal was a hugely…

The kakapo, a flightless parrot from New Zealand, is number four on the EDGE Birds List. Photo by: Shane Mcinnes. The comic dodo, the stately great auk, the passenger pigeon…

Among the huge diversity of insects there are some bewilderingly complex life cycles, but few can compete with the trigonalid wasps for the seemingly haphazard way they ensure their genes…

Sloths are famous for their exceptionally slow motor skills and petite faces that seem to beam with an almost natural smile. However, less commonly known is the unusual bathroom habit…

Scientists have discovered the gene enabling multiple female morphs that give the Common Mormon butterfly its very tongue-in-cheek name. doublesex, the gene that controls gender in insects, is also a…

Without wings, smaller terrestrial animals are really restricted when it comes to moving long distances to find new areas of habitat. However, lots of species get around this problem simply…

Rainforest canopy in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler In the Western Amazon—arguably the world's most biodiverse region—scientists have found that not only is the forest super-rich in…

The seabed is really where it’s at in terms of animal diversity. Of the 35 known animal lineages, representatives of all but two are found here. In contrast, the huge…

Verreaux's Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that…

Almost everyone knows what an earthworm is, but these very familiar animals are just one variation on a very rich theme that is at its most fabulously varied in the…

Biologists recently documented one of nature's least-known, big events. On the banks of the Purus River in the Brazilian Amazon, researchers witnessed the mass-hatching of an estimated 210,000 giant South…

Little dodo baby found: conservationists boosted by discovery that species is breeding. Detail of new painting highlighting the Manumea or little dodo. Painting by: © Michael Rothman 2013. Almost nothing…

Update: The classification of Tapirus kabomani as a distinct species was officially contested in 2014. In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the…

The thin-spined porcupine, also known as the bristle-spined rat, is a truly distinct animal: a sort of cross between New World porcupines and spiny rats with genetic research showing it…

Lemurs in a cave in Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler After playing, feeding, and socializing in trees all day, some ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) take their nightly respite in…

Forest canopy on the sky island of Nyungwe, Rwanda. Photo by: Michele Menegon. The montane rainforests of East Africa are little-known to the global public. The Amazon and Congo loom…

A dolphin swimming through the world’s oceans after fish, and a bat flying through the air with its membranous wings to catch insects or eat fruit: at first glance, it…

The female Hispaniolan solenodon caught by Nicolas Corona in the Dominican Republic. She's awaiting being fitted with a radio collar. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. So, here I am, running in…

Last month scientists unveiled a remarkable discovery: a new mammal in the order Carnivora (even though it mostly lives off fruits) in the Andean cloud forests. This was the first…

How the biodiversity of Trinidad and Tobago have influenced everything from evolutionary science to tropical conservation. Sunset in Trindad and Tobago. Photo courtesy of Nigel Noriega. The two-island nation of…