Victorian attitudes influenced what scientists thought they were observing about sexual behaviors in the animal world. But modern techniques reveal the myth for what it is.
Articles on Biology
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Four organisms that show nature isn’t so easily categorised.
When art meets the biological sciences, living matter becomes the medium. From the chaotic beauty of smallpox to poems implanted in bacteria, Bio-art investigates the boundaries of life and death.
A new exhibition at MONA, curated by scientists, explores the biological and evolutionary origins of art. The show is spectacular - but it offers an overwhelmingly male perspective.
Move over, DNA profilers. Scientists are developing a potentially more powerful technique to identify criminals from their hair.
Humans can more easily tolerate tumours in large or paired organs than in small, critical ones. This could be why the latter have evolved more cancer-fighting mechanisms.
Scientists have uncovered the genetics that explain the snake’s impressive length – and used the science to create extra-long mice.
Understanding the genetic origins of sharks’ teeth could one day lead to new treatments for humans.
Scientists have discovered two new types of ants in the rainforests of New Guinea thanks to an advanced X-ray imaging technique.
Dolly the sheep died young with osteoarthritis, but new evidence shows early-onset diseases aren’t inevitable for clones.
Our planet’s huge range of environments has led some animals to evolve some bizarre but very useful features.
Do you know your parasites from your gut commensals? Read this and you will.
The genes controlling nose shape can reveal a lot about our evolutionary history.
Scientists uncover hidden mathematical structures controlling how living cells operate. If this could be used by computers of the future, we may one day be able to understand the brain.
Our bodies are teeming with petty bureaucrats and red tape – it’s the very fabric for life on Earth.
Embryos greedily want more resources than their fair share. New research investigates how early in evolution their hormonal tactics arose.
Look beyond transgenic techniques that add new genes to a species. People have used selective breeding techniques to change plants and animals for millennia – why not try them on mosquitoes?
A new project hopes to drill through the Earth’s crust for the first time. But what beasties lurk deep beneath our feet?
A new journal article has proposed that women changing their surname acts as a signal of fidelity to their husbands.
If you’re a non-scientist, you might have once asked yourself, propped against the bedhead after disappointingly quick intercourse, how long does sex “normally” last?
Top contributors
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Doctoral Student in Biochemistry, University of Washington
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ARC Future Fellow, Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University
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Emeritus Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
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Investigador Científico, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC); The University of Western Australia
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Senior lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, University of Bristol
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Postdoctoral Fellow, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
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Biologist
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Professor of Entomology, North Carolina State University
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Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University
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Fellow, Keele University
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Lecturer, Macquarie University
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Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology, University of Sydney
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Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Chercheur à l’Institut de systématique, évolution, biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
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Mark Elgar is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology, The University of Melbourne