An extinct monkey evolved to live like a sloth in the Caribbean
12 November 2018
Jamaica was once home to a sloth-like monkey – now we know it was a strange descendant of South America’s titi monkeys that adapted to island life
-
Subject
-
Section
-
Type
-
Topics
-
Author
-
Issue
-
Premium
Ants have evolved to farm plants on at least 15 separate occasions
10 November 2022
Many species of tree-living ants cultivate plants that grow on trees either for food or shelter, but there is a debate over whether the practice should be considered agriculture
Harbour seals can learn how to change their voices to seem bigger
29 April 2022
The vocal gymnastics of harbour seals, including the ability to significantly raise or lower their pitch, seem not to be down to anatomy but learning from one another
Our Human Story newsletter: The patterns of domestication
11 November 2021
Why did ancient humans begin to domesticate animals? Plus, a new hominin species has been named – but it may not stick
Penis worms had hermit crab-like defence system 530 million years ago
8 November 2021
More than half a billion years ago, tiny penis worms had learned to protect themselves by grabbing and living inside snail-like shells, like hermit crabs do today
A species of yeast produces near-identical clones when it has sex
4 May 2021
Saccharomycodes ludwigii is a sexually reproducing species, but it doesn’t mix up its genes before it mates – which means offspring end up being almost identical to the parents
Toxic beetle’s genetics reveals how evolution makes new organs
25 May 2021
Rove beetles have glands in their abdomen that secrete a toxin, and they are made up of just two cell types that evolved together – which may be how other animal organs originated
Male and female gibbons sing duets in time with each other
11 January 2023
Lar gibbons call out sounds that are synchronised and occur at regular intervals – a combination of rhythmic qualities that, until now, had only been seen in people
A tiny change to an inner ear bone led bats to evolve into two groups
26 January 2022
The two major groups of bats diverged tens of millions of years ago, and the main difference between them lies in a tiny inner ear bone
Blind Mexican cave fish are developing cave-specific accents
14 April 2022
The Mexican tetra has evolved to live in a number of dark caves – and now we know that the fish in each cave use clicks to communicate in distinct ways