LiveScience Topic:
Evolution

Evolution is among the most substantiated concepts in science and is the unifying theory of biological science. Charles Darwin co-originated, with Alfred Russel Wallace, the theory of evolution by natural selection. His masterwork, the 1859 "Origin of Species," offered ample evidence for evolution having occurred, as well as the first strong explanation for its mechanism, natural selection. Modern evolutionary theory incorporates these concepts: species change over time; genetic mutations are responsible for the changes; individuals with beneficial genetic mutations will survive preferentially compared with their competitors, in a process known as natural selection; those successful individuals' more numerous offspring will spread the beneficial genetic constructs throughout the population; when enough genetic changes reproductively isolate a population, that population has become a new species. Here you'll find news and information on evolution and the battle with proponents of so-called creation science.

What separates humans from other animals? Some of the answers might surprise you.
Ancient baleen whales first evolved their huge mouths for sucking individual prey.
Musical improvisation can improve depression.
Our ancestors preferred shrubs, it seems.
A marvel of evolution, the crested rat chews poisonous tree bark and applies its spit to specially modified hairs to make its coat poisonous and deter predators from gulping it down.
The human brain shrinks with age, unlike that of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee.
Sloths move like monkeys, but with energy-saving adaptations.
The twelve-fingered Iberian mole grows a special set of extra thumbs, used to improve their tunneling abilities, from a repurposed wristbone.
The predatory owner of these eyes lived half a billion years ago.
We each possess 60 new mutations, any of which could make major changes in our appearance or behavior. The genetic mistakes are the driving force of evolution.
Richard Lenski's two decade experiment on E. coli sheds new light on evolutionary processes.
Don't feel silly if you won't walk under a ladder or you carry a lucky charm.
War makes people willing to punish those who don't work well with others.
From his wandering eye to his real desire to mate for life, here are the top 10 things every woman should know about the male brain.
Two completely independent animals have evolved the same body part independently.
Cynthia Beall studies how Tibetans survive the low oxygen of high altitudes
The Great Southern Brood of cicadas is emerging after 13 years. It's no mere coincidence that cicadas have life cycles that are prime numbers.
Why some places have more species than others.