Animals are changing their body shapes to cope with climate change Editors' Picks New research examines novel ways animal species are coping with climate change: changing the size of their ears, tails, beaks and other appendages.
How will Delta evolve? Here’s what the theory tells us Monday August 23, 2021 By Hamish McCallum Editors' Picks Finally, evolutionary theory has a warning about future pandemics: we can expect future pandemics when animal viruses spill over into humans.
Darwin got sexual selection backwards, research suggests Thursday June 24, 2021 By Tamas Szekely Culture New research has found that sexual selection is most pronounced not when potential mates are scarce, but when they’re abundant.
Darwin’s The Descent of Man 150 years on — sex, race and our ‘lowly’ ape ancestry Friday February 26, 2021 By Ian Hesketh and Henry-James Meiring Editors' Picks This work is shaped by Victorian-era sexual and racial stereotypes. But at a time when other evolutionists stressed humanity’s uniqueness, Darwin emphasised our 'lowly nature'.
Humans aren’t inherently selfish – we’re actually hardwired to work together Friday August 21, 2020 By Steve Taylor Editors' Picks The assumption that we're selfish because prehistoric life was a desperate struggle for survival is a false one.
The mathematics of evolution, and why Indigenous marriage rules are actually quite clever systems Thursday August 20, 2020 By Jared Field Career Advice There are only around five Indigenous mathematicians in the country, and most of them have left academia because of racism. Dr Jared Field is now…
Why do so many dangerous animals live in Australia? Tuesday June 9, 2020 By Louise Gentle Editors' Picks Other continents have several ancestors that may or may not have been venomous, but Australia’s 140 terrestrial and 30 marine snake species all evolved from…
This lizard lays eggs and gives live birth. We think it’s undergoing a major evolutionary transition Friday April 3, 2020 By Charles Foster & Camilla Whittington Editors' Picks These findings are important because they demonstrate that egg-laying three-toed skinks are an evolutionary intermediate between “true” egg-laying and live birth.
How to avoid change for change’s sake Monday October 14, 2019 By Pia Andrews Editors' Picks How do you build responsiveness to ongoing developments into a work program? And what inputs do you need to understand and respond to change? Pia…
How much can we afford to forget, if we train machines to remember? Thursday April 18, 2019 By Gene Tracy Career Advice It’s common to frame discussions of societal transitions by focusing on the new skills that become essential. But instead of looking at what we’re learning,…