Of the 8.7 million species on Earth, why are human beings the only one that paints self-portraits, walks on the Moon and worships gods? For decades, many scholars have argued that the difference stems ...

Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don't? It's one of the most enduring questions in the study of mind and communication. Across all cultures, humans use richly expressive ...

Some say the oldest known human settlement is Uruk, in modern-day Iraq. Others say Jericho, in Palestine. Wherever it is, it must be the place where synurbization—the process of wildlife adapting to ...

When people ask me if cats are smarter than dogs, I always say, “Well, cats do what they have to do to be card-carrying cats, and dogs do what they have to do to be card-carrying dogs.” Sometimes, if ...

Charles Darwin once noted that natural selection tends to preserve traits that conceal an animal in nature. It can paint camouflage onto their bodies with astonishing quickness: The peppered moth’s ...

Human-Animal Encounters in the Bible (Wipf and Stock Publishers) addresses a surprisingly under-explored and little discussed ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. This ...

Plants and animals have evolved all sorts of ways to make themselves more appealing to potential mates—including colorful feet, flamboyant feathers, complex mating dances and sexual deception. Many ...