What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end
Which animals came first? For more than a century, most evidence suggested that sponges, immobile filter-feeders that lack…
Biomechanical limits of hopping in the hindlimbs of giant extinct kangaroos
Specimens All species included in this study were macropodiforms; the bone measurement dataset encompassed all extant families and…
2-million-year-old skeleton reveals ape-like features in early humans
A groundbreaking study published in The Anatomical has challenged previous assumptions about human evolution. Scientists once believed that…
Will mpox go global again? Research shows it’s evolving in curious ways
Mpox virus particles (purple) seem to be spreading more easily between people.Credit: NIAID/SPL As mpox continues to spark…
Scientists Put Human Gut Bacteria Into Mice and Found Their Brains Showed Primate-like Activity
Credit: ZME Science/Midjourney. The human brain is a greedy organ. It gulps energy, demands constant upkeep, and somehow…
Jellyfish sleep like humans — even though they don’t have brains
The upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda sleeps for roughly 8 hours a day.Credit: Shahar Shabtai/Alamy Neither jellyfish nor sea…
New Study Supports Sahelanthropus as the Earliest Hominin
For all the attention devoted to human evolution, we still don’t know who our direct ancestors were, let…
How Fearsome Wolves Became Loyal Dogs — and Changed Human History Forever
The dog diverged from a now-extinct population of wolves 27,000–40,000 years ago, before or during the Last Glacial…
Mysterious structures within Earth’s mantle may explain why we exist
Far below your feet, nearly 1,800 miles beneath oceans and continents, Earth carries two massive scars from its…
Earliest Known Giant Mackerel Sharks Lived 115 Million Years Ago in Australian Waters
The Lamniformes are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks. It includes some of the most…