How do scientists study and classify life-forms? How can we understand the complex evolutionary connections between living organisms? Woese's breakthrough was momentous for at least three reasons.

From the genius and torment of Charles Darwin to the scientific revolution that spawned the tree of life, from the power of sex to drive evolutionary change to the importance of mass extinctions ...

Single-celled organisms called archaea can become multicellular when compressed, highlighting the role of physical forces in ...

Every living organism relies on a genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA, yet the amount of DNA - or genome size - varies ...

“Evolution isn't just a story about where ... to experience some of the evolutionary wonders contained in the tree of life." The other tool that came out of their research is a puzzle-based ...

Putting together the puzzle of human evolution sometimes comes down to ... us understand how we may have evolved these unique ...

In a groundbreaking discovery, Canadian researchers have identified a new type of microscopic organism, hemimastigotes, which ...

Thus, understanding the evolutionary history of living species amounts to understanding where on the tree of life these species' distinctive traits arose. Moreover, phylogenetic trees serve as ...

If we became crab-like it would be a slightly horrifying experience, an expert tells us. Crabs molt their entire outer ...

Could social bonds be the key to human big brains? A study of the fossil teeth of early Homo from Georgia dating back 1.77 million years reveals a prolonged childhood despite a small brain and an ...

Between 1.8 billion and 800 million years ago, earthly life was in the doldrums. During this period, called the "boring ...

Early in a chief executive’s tenure, inherited problems can be easily addressed. Later it’s harder—there is no one else to ...