evolution

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

Researchers find that Fiji iguanas are most closely related to the North American desert iguana — evidence of the longest known transoceanic dispersal of any land animal

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

Research

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

Mind & body

A new timeline for Neanderthal interbreeding with modern humans

outline sketches of grains: corn, wheat and rice

Research

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