Evolution
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Meet Little Foot, your 3.6-million-year-old ancestor
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Researchers in South Africa unveil what they call "by far the most complete skeleton of a human ancestor older than 1.5 million years ever found".
Topics: archaeology, history, science-and-technology, university-and-further-education, evolution, south-africa
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Yeti remains revealed to be … brown bear and dog
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The elusive Yeti or Abominable Snowman, a tall, hairy, ape-like creature rumoured to roam the Himalayas, remains firmly rooted in the realms of folklore.
Topics: science-and-technology, evolution, dna, animal-science, animals, genetics
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Lefties have upper hand in cricket, baseball, table tennis
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An analysis of elite athletes shows more southpaws in high time-pressure sports.
Topics: science-and-technology, evolution, sport, biology, anatomy, badminton, squash, baseball, cricket, tennis, table-tennis
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Fancy feather physics help pigeons sound the alarm
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When a pigeon takes off rapidly, it produces a shrill whistle that acts as a warning for other birds. The noise is created by just two feathers — one on each wing.
Topics: science-and-technology, research, zoology, physics, evolution, biology, birds, animal-behaviour, australia
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New species of frizzy-haired orangutan discovered
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The bearded and frizzy-haired Tapanuli orangutan is the latest addition to our great ape family tree, but it might not be around for too long.
Topics: science-and-technology, evolution, genetics, biology, mammals, biological-diversity, forests, rain-forests-and-forest, conservation, animals, indonesia
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The 'underground astronaut' and her search for ancient bones
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Australian Elen Feuerriegel risked her life to recover bones hidden in a cave below the rolling hills of South Africa. What she found helped open a new chapter in the story of human evolution.
Topics: science-and-technology, evolution, archaeology, palaeontology, south-africa, australia
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Australian trapdoor spider may be a seafaring castaway from Africa
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Trapdoor spiders are reluctant travellers, but millions of years ago one species appears to have made an epic journey from Africa across the vast Indian Ocean to call Australia home.
Topics: science-and-technology, biology, evolution, invertebrates---insects-and-arachnids, penneshaw-5222, sa, australia
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What did the first ever flower look like?
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European botanists have now determined what the single ancestor of all modern flowers looked like using the largest dataset of features from living flowers ever assembled.
Topics: botany, evolution, sydney-2000
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Humans arrived in Australia far earlier than previously thought Video
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New excavations of a rock shelter near Kakadu National Park indicate humans reached Australia at least 65,000 years ago — up to 18,000 years earlier than archaeologists previously thought.
Topics: archaeology, science-and-technology, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-culture, history, community-and-society, evolution, jabiru-0886, australia
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Ancient Indigenous rock shelter rewrites Australia's human history
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New excavations of a rock shelter near Kakadu National Park indicate humans reached Australia at least 65,000 years ago — up to 18,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Topics: science-and-technology, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-culture, history, community-and-society, evolution, archaeology, jabiru-0886, australia
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Dr Karl: Did life begin on an 'invisible' mountain range?
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Many scientists believe life on Earth evolved in what's dubbed a 'primordial soup'. But a new hypothesis is that it life began on the longest mountain range on Earth, that is so far under the water it's invisible to most of us.
Topics: science-and-technology, earth-sciences, evolution, biology
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The origin of the tabby coat and other cat mysteries revealed
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A new study on how cats conquered the world — and our hearts — has answered long-standing questions.
Topics: science-and-technology, archaeology, evolution, animals, dna
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Why are humans still drawn to fire?
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There's something mesmerising about a flickering flame, be it a candle or roaring fireplace. But what is it about fire that fascinates us so?
Topics: evolution, anthropology-and-sociology, human-interest, canberra-2600, act, australia
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Discovery of 300,000-year-old fossils rewrites origins of our species
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The discovery of ancient remains of Stone Age humans in Morocco pushes back the date of the origin of our species by 100,000 years.
Topics: science-and-technology, palaeontology, archaeology, evolution, morocco
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How did whales become enormous in just 3 million years?
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Scientists say an "explosion" of food in the ocean created by a change in the environment caused an explosion in whales as huge bodies — bigger even than the dinosaurs — became more efficient.
Topics: mammals---whales, animal-science, science-and-technology, evolution, environment, environmental-impact, climate-change, australia
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Early life on land may have thrived in 3.5bn-year-old Pilbara hot spring
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Ancient red rocks in the Western Australia's Pilbara contain traces of a hot spring that hosted the earliest-known life on land 3.5 billion years ago, supporting the idea life emerged on land rather than around deep sea vents, scientists say.
Topics: science-and-technology, biology, geology, evolution, wa
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Hobbits' link to humans more distant than first thought, ANU researchers say
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A controversial theory that a mysterious species known as hobbits were closely linked to modern humans is ruled out by Australian scientists, who say the species could be older than first thought.
Topics: evolution, archaeology, science-and-technology, canberra-2600, act, australia
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Tiny frogs face a troubled future in New Guinea's tropical mountains Opinion
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The tropical forests and mountains of New Guinea have a dynamic past and rich biodiversity that is likely to shrink as global temperatures soar, a new study reveals.
Topics: rain-forests-and-forest, environment, evolution, animal-science, papua-new-guinea, pacific, asia, indonesia
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Ancient dental plaque shows some Neanderthals ate plants and used drugs
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We might think of Neanderthals as meat-eating cave men, but DNA from prehistoric dental plaque shows some of our palaeo cousins were vegetarians who used plant-based medicines.
Topics: science-and-technology, genetics, evolution, archaeology
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Betsy de Vos confirmed as US secretary of education Video
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Beverley O'Connor and Michigan public radio journalist Rick Pluta discuss the controversial appointment of the conservative billionaire to the education portfolio.
Topics: education, schools, evolution, united-states
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'Wrinkled sack' with huge mouth, no anus could be our oldest ancestor
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This tiny marine creature with a bag-like body, huge mouth and no anus called Saccorhytus, or "wrinkled sack", could be humanity's oldest ancestor, scientists say.
Topics: evolution, science-and-technology, animals, palaeontology, human-interest, china
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Torresian crows form new nesting habits in major evolutionary change: scientists
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Torresian crows nest on buildings and man-made structures in Queensland cities in a remarkable "evolutionary change" that shows how intelligent the birds are.
Topics: environment, animals, environmental-health, ornithology, birds, animal-science, science-and-technology, evolution, brisbane-4000, mackay-4740, bundaberg-4670, rockhampton-4700, qld
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Goosebumps may be more useful than we first thought
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It has long been thought that goosebumps are just evolutionary residue from the caveman era, but new research shows we may have been underestimating them.
Topics: medical-research, health, evolution, skin-cancer, human-interest, melbourne-3000
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Evolution not the driving force behind increased C-sections, midwife says
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A midwifery expert says evolution is not the primary reason for an increase in C-sections, after a study linked the procedure to the growing size of the human brain.
Topics: pregnancy-and-childbirth, reproduction-and-contraception, health, womens-health, women, evolution, science-and-technology, australia, united-states
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Antarctic mission out to find proof humans evolved from fish Feature
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Adelaide palaeontologist Professor John Long is travelling to Antarctica in search of fossils to prove humans evolved from fish.
Topics: palaeontology, geology, evolution, biology, human-interest, adelaide-5000, antarctica
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