Those of you who took high school biology may remember the lancelet, also known as the amphioxus. Its simplified body plan is notable for containing a number of features that it shares in common with ...

AbstractThe usefulness of ecoregions and catchments (hydrologic units) as bases for classifying aquatic vertebrate assemblages in western Oregon was compared using samples collected by electrofishing ...

Fish embryo study indicates that the last common ancestor of vertebrates was a complex animal complete with gills -- overturning prior scientific understanding and complementing recent fossil finds.

Researchers have found an ancient monitor lizard with a fourth eye — a discovery that may signal a new wrinkle in the way eyesight evolved in vertebrates. “This tells us how easy it is, in terms of ...

Famed British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough has been lending his calming voice to nature documentaries ever since TV was in black and white. And the 89-year-old is still at it. His ...

A stunningly preserved, soft-bodied fish that is more than 500 million years old could be the ancestor of almost all living vertebrates. The fossilized fish, called Metaspriggina, sports ...

Charles Darwin proposed that evolution is driven by gradual variations in organisms that have a survival advantage in a changing environment. But University of Maryland evolutionary biologist Karen ...

THE outstanding spirit of the early study of helminthology was the search for knowledge for its own sake; whereas the motive underlying the activities of workers of more recent years has been, partly ...

The fossil of an ancient sea squirt found in a collection at the Utah Museum of Natural History turned out to be the oldest of its kind. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

To quantify China’s loss of biodiversity, researchers analyzed data from 1,385 representative populations of 405 terrestrial vertebrate species: 161 mammals, 184 birds, and 60 amphibians and reptiles.