A genomic atlas of Nematostella vectensis reveals how primitive animals created multiple cell types millions of years ago, ...

A new study posits that same-sex sexual behavior developed to help primates in complex social groups ease tension, reduce ...

The conservation of genome regulatory elements over long periods of evolution is not limited to vertebrates, as previously ...

With copper-blue blood prized by modern medicine and a body plan older than dinosaurs, the horseshoe crab reveals how ancient ...

Animals have evolved crab-like bodies at least five times throughout history, a process known as carcinization.

A microorganism whose evolutionary roots can be traced to the era of the first multicellular animals may provide a glimpse of how single-celled organisms made a critical evolutionary leap. In ...

Red blood is the exception, not the rule. Evolution has painted it green, purple and white in animals that push physiology ...

Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the first animal chromosomes came to be. Chromosomes, the bundles of DNA that star in the mitotic ballet ...

The origins of consciousness date back about 540 million years ago, when animal bodies became more complex. Feelings like pleasure and pain act as a "common currency" for decision-making, as we see in ...