The evolution of animal heads is a remarkable example of how various anatomical features co-evolved to adapt to different ecological niches, behaviors and functions. But the intricate details of why ...

Humans do not have tails, but do we have “what it takes” for a tail? Hens don’t have teeth, but they have the genes for it. With atavism, it is as if our genomes serve as archives of our evolutionary ...

A single-celled creature originally found in shallow sea sediments around Hawaii develops into multicellular structures with remarkable similarities to animal embryos. The finding could help ...

Is there only one optimal configuration an organism can reach during evolution? Is there a single formula that describes the trajectory towards the optimum? And can we 'derive' it in a purely ...

Includes Malpighi's De formatione pulli in ovo (On the formation of the chick in the egg), v. 2, p. [932]-981; and his Appendix repetitas auctasque de ovo incubato observationes continens (Repeated ...

All vertebrate embryos follow a common developmental path due to their common ancestry. All have a set of very similar genes (the homeobox genes) that define their basic body plan. As they grow, the ...