Browse our latest Evolutionary Biology articles

The complex chromatin-based genomic regulatory system controlling developmental gene expression in complex bilaterians predates the evolution of morphological complexity and may have been a prerequisite for the evolution of the first simple multicellular animals.

The gene regulation mechanisms necessary for the development of complex multicellular animals have been found in sponges.

A late Middle Pleistocene age for Homo naledi demonstrates a diversity of hominin species in Africa at this critical time in the archaeological record.

The discovery of new skeletal remains of Homo naledi in the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa, adds more evidence to our understanding of the morphology and behavior of this recently discovered species.

More fossil specimens and an eagerly awaited age for Homo naledi raise new questions and open new opportunities for paleoanthropologists.

Independent dating techniques have established that the H. naledi fossils are between 236 and 335 thousand years old, indicating that small-brained hominins with relatively primitive body shapes co-existed with our early ancestors in Africa.

Collagen IV is a primordial extracellular matrix component associated with the transition to animal multicellularity, and enabled the formation and evolution of epithelial tissues.

Primates have co-opted a viral gene to produce an envelope protein that prevents infection by the HERV-T virus and likely contributed to the extinction of this virus.

The reconstitution of a functional envelope protein from an extinct hominid retrovirus reveals its receptor and an ancient host defense that may have led to the extinction of the virus.

To protect the germ line genome, chickens acquire new small RNA-based immune defense in response to recently endogenized retroviruses by turning a truncated provirus into a weapon.