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Some sea snakes have re-evolved the ability to see more colours

12 July 2023

Most snakes can see a limited range of colours, but the blue-banded sea snake has regained genes lost millions of years ago that may let them see ultraviolet and blue light

Octopuses edit their own genetic code to adapt to colder water

8 June 2023

When the temperature drops, octopuses recode their RNA in thousands of places to alter the proteins made in their nerve cells

Butterflies evolved 100 million years ago in North America

15 May 2023

Many researchers thought butterflies first evolved in Asia, but a global genetic analysis suggests they arose in North America, well before the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct

Ancient bacteria genome reconstructed from Neanderthal tooth gunk

4 May 2023

Researchers pieced together the genomes of two unknown species of green sulphur bacteria from DNA fragments found in ancient calcified tooth plaque

A black-and-white photo of a man dressed in warm furs crouching down next to Balto, a dog that appears to be a dark-furred husky type dog. Behind them is a brick building.

Balto's genome reveals famed sledge dog was a mutt

27 April 2023

Balto had a varied ancestry, sharing genes with Siberian huskies, Greenland sledge dogs, Vietnamese village dogs and Tibetan mastiffs

Skates evolved their undulating wings thanks to genome origami

12 April 2023

The front fins of skates emerge from their heads as huge wings and now we know how they can develop in this way

Male crazy ants have two different sets of DNA in their bodies

6 April 2023

A bizarre mode of reproduction discovered in yellow crazy ants results in males that have two separate sets of DNA in different parts of their body

Orcas in the North Pacific may be dying out due to inbreeding

20 March 2023

Habitat and hunting protections have helped orca numbers rebound globally, but a group in the North Pacific Ocean is still shrinking – probably because it is isolated from other populations

Dogs living near Chernobyl are genetically different to other groups

3 March 2023

The genomes of dogs living near the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine have been sequenced to investigate how they may have been affected by high levels of radiation

Mastodons, hares, geese and reindeer in a forest

DNA from 2 million years ago is the oldest ever recovered

7 December 2022

DNA bound to mineral particles in ancient sediment reveals that north Greenland once had spruce forests populated by hares, reindeer and even mastodons