Most of us know that as living things evolve, they take on traits that help them thrive in their home environments. But how are certain traits "chosen" for future generations, and how are others cast ...
When most people think about natural selection, they imagine individuals competing with one another: The fastest animal escapes predators, the strongest plant produces more seeds, and the most ...
When our distant ancestors first traded nomadic life for farming, villages, and permanent homes, you might assume that the beastly forces of natural selection lost their ability to shape our species, ...
The common view of natural selection is based solely on the individual: A trait allows an organism to out-compete its rivals and is thus passed down to its offspring. To suggest otherwise can provoke ...
Many people are familiar with the concept of natural selection and “survival of the fittest.” While modern humans may look like they’ve been at their “fittest” for hundreds of thousands of years, new ...
Between 1831 and 1836, Charles Darwin circumnavigated the globe as the naturalist for the renowned HMS Beagle. Darwin's task, as far as Britain was concerned, was to discover and describe flora and ...