Molecular evolutionary biologist Masatoshi Nei says Darwin never proved natural selection is the driving force of evolution — because it isn't. In a cavernous concert hall, before an eager audience of ...

In fact, natural selection often leads to ever greater simplicity. And, in many cases, complexity may initially arise when selection is weak or absent. If you don’t use it, you tend to lose it.

Natural selection is usually understood in the context of change. When organisms deviate from the norm, they may gain advantages that let their lineages outlast those of their less-adaptable relatives ...

A hurricane cleared Bahamian islands, offering scientists a rare chance to observe evolution beginning anew. Researchers ...

A new study of black-browed albatrosses suggests evolution can help species respond to climate change, but rapid warming may happen faster than long-lived animals can adapt.

Much change is due to random genetic drift rather than positive selection. It could be called the survival of the luckiest. You might think that largely neutral mutations would remain restricted to a ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A strange tiny species of crustacean has challenged the way we think ...

The theory of evolution by natural selection was first formulated in Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. It describes how organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable ...

Natural selection is usually understood in the context of change. When organisms deviate from the norm, they may gain advantages that let their lineages outlast those of their less-adaptable relatives ...

Antibiotic resistance, when infection-causing bacteria evolve so they are no longer affected by typical antibiotics, is a global concern. New research at the University of Tokyo has mapped the ...