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evolution

Chimp holds banana in its mouth

Life

Putting bigger brains down to our social nature is half-baked

New work on primates bolsters the idea that diet – rather than social complexity – was key to evolution of our big brains, says chimp expert Richard Wrangham

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Dinosaur skeletons

Life

First dinosaurs may have been omnivores in the north hemisphere

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guppies

Life

Female fish with bigger brains choose better mates

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Fish out of water

Life

These fish are evolving right now to become land-dwellers

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Phalaris aquatica, or Bulbous Canary Grass

Life

Plants have evolved a taste for sand that deters hungry insects

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Metabolism may be older than life itself and start spontaneously

Earth

Metabolism may be older than life itself and start spontaneously

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Rove beetles

Life

Sneaky beetles evolved disguise to look like ants, then eat them

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Translucent helmeted cockroach looks like an alien with a halo

Life

Translucent helmeted cockroach looks like an alien with a halo

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Neanderthals sat round a campfire with bits of meat hanging up in the foreground

Humans

Neanderthals may have medicated with penicillin and painkillers

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Sociable woodpeckers that cooperate have evolved smaller brains

Life

Sociable woodpeckers that cooperate have evolved smaller brains

It’s long been thought that living in a group leads to bigger brains – including in humans. But a surprising finding in woodpeckers shows this isn’t always the case

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Earth

Traces in rock may be the oldest evidence of life on Earth ever

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Life

The opposite birds: What wiped out the ancient rulers of the sky

Features

Life

Squid evolved in marine wars more than 100 million years ago

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Humans

Extinct Neanderthals still control expression of human genes

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