evolution

a bright orange sponge on left, 4 translucent, bell-shaped comb jellies on right

Research

Did the first animal look like a sponge or a comb jelly? The debate continues.

Two years ago, a novel analysis by UC Berkeley researchers pointed to comb jellies as the root of the animal tree of life. Another Berkeley group now says it’s sponges.

transparent drawing of fish with bones visible, against background of Earth and black silhouettes of fish

Research

Fossilized ear bones rewrite the history of freshwater fish

two small, furry brown rodents huddled together

Research

Is the ‘love hormone,’ oxytocin, also the ‘friendship hormone’?

a large green iguana with narrow yellow stripes rests on the lower trunk of a palm tree with a beach and ocean in the background

Research

Iguanas floated one-fifth of the way around the world to colonize Fiji

side view of a brown fly, and closeup of abdomen with 2 dark spots

Fly vs. wasp: Stealing a defense move helps thwart a predator

red and black human figures on the wall of a cave, with DNA helices inside each figure

A new timeline for Neanderthal interbreeding with modern humans

outline sketches of grains: corn, wheat and rice

Agriculture accelerated human genome evolution to capture energy from starchy foods

a ball of blue blobs with hundreds of orange hairs sticking out

Creature the size of a dust grain found hiding in California’s Mono Lake

What did the earliest animals look like?

a pyramid of animals with humans on top next to a circle enclosing silhouettes of animals equally with a human

Speciesism, like racism, imperils humanity and the planet

portraits of Ronald Reagan, FDR and Jimmy Carter

Age vs. genetics: Which is more important for how you age?

gray stylized map of world with colored dots

Bottlenecks that reduced genetic diversity were common throughout human history

lifesize cast of T. rex in building at UC Berkeley

T. rex’s short arms may have lowered risk of bites during feeding frenzies

letters representing the genetic code, some glowing purple

Now fully complete, human genome reveals new secrets

black and red spider monkey eating fruit in a tree

Monkeys often eat fruit containing alcohol, shedding light on our taste for booze

a flame jellyfish, with red-orange arms, in an aquarium with other jellyfish in the backgroun