"These aren't traces of animals that may have passed through the area." ...

Scientists revisiting mysterious 540-million-year-old microfossils from Brazil have overturned a major idea about early ...

The newly discovered fossil records suggest that mold-like single-cell organisms "set the stage" for the animal kingdom to evolve, the researchers wrote in a new report, published in the journal ...

A Canadian geologist may have found the earliest fossil record of animal life on Earth, according to a report published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get ...

Being a scientist is much like being a lawyer. You painstakingly gather evidence to support an argument — though one rooted in the scientific method, not courtroom conjecture. According to new ...

The details of how animal life began are a bit murky. Most of the groups familiar today are present in the Cambrian, a period when they rapidly diversified, with familiar features evolving alongside ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Here's why Dickinsonia challenges our previously held ...

Humans are captivated by the idea of finding life elsewhere in the universe – and even more by the idea that life, if found, might resemble the complex, animal life here on Earth. One of the easiest ...

Kali Holder, a veterinary pathologist at the National Zoo, is motivated by problem-solving and a passionate curiosity about nature. Image: courtesy of Kali Holder When an animal becomes endangered, it ...