An ancient sexual conflict over mitochondrial inheritance may be responsible for the evolution of the two sexes as we know them.
Articles on Evolutionary biology
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Evolutionary biologists ask very similar questions about species to those asked by linguists about languages.
Ancient whales were neither gentle, nor giants: they were smaller than those of today and judging from their teeth, a lot meaner.
A stable environment that teaches men to be men and women to be women could be helping to enforce gender across generations.
Scientists have reconstructed the common ancestor of everything from rose bushes to oak trees, ivy or wheat.
A group of lizards in Brazil have evolved bigger heads in just 15 years thanks to their new environment.
Taking the placenta as a case study, researchers are able to piece together how new organs evolve, by repurposing old tissues and using them to do new jobs.
Anthropologists gather clues about how our ancient ancestors lived from their teeth. What will future anthropologists make of us based on the fossilized pearly whites we’ll leave behind?
A new study suggests women who undergo FGM in societies where it is prevalent have more surviving children – but the evidence isn’t strong enough.
Some fish build sandcastles to attract a mate but others just use sneaky tactics.
The species died out long before humans could properly study it.
A cryptic part of DNA helps keep a species’ mutations in check until they become useful.
It’s a watery battle of the sexes.
Humans have an innate interest and ability in naming biologically meaningful entities, or species. Taxonomy, then, vies for the title of world’s “oldest profession”.
Were legs a quirk of genetic mutation rather than an evolutionary inevitability?
The goal of identifying leadership attributes that translate into team success remains as elusive in sport as it does in other spheres of human endeavour.
New research suggests the “primordial soup” theory can’t explain how living cells evolved to harness energy.
Scientists have uncovered the genetics that explain the snake’s impressive length – and used the science to create extra-long mice.
An environment rife with shame is a fertile breeding ground for conflict: pitting mother against mother.
There must be some evolutionary force acting to maintain this visual ‘defect’.
Top contributors
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Emeritus Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
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Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer, Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle University
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Mark Elgar is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology, The University of Melbourne
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Postdoctoral Researcher , The University of Melbourne
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Senior lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, University of Bristol
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Professor of Avian Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University
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PhD Researcher, Nature and Function of Human Nonverbal Vocalisations, University of Sussex
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Lecturer, Macquarie University
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Postdoctoral Researcher of Evolutionary Biology, University of Pennsylvania
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Research fellow, University of Sydney
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Sexual health researcher, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
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Associate Professor, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland