A breakthrough in genetics reveals how spines first appeared, changing what we know about the evolution of complex species.

Quick Take A 436-million-year-old bony fish fossil has successfully helped researchers better understand vertebrate evolution ...

Learn how increased protein diversity in signaling genes may have helped drive the shift from invertebrates to vertebrates, reshaping how animals with a spine evolved. From frogs and fish to birds and ...

The water-to-land transition stands as one of the most significant events in vertebrate evolution, giving rise to the two ...

Analysis of a 458-million-year-old fossil fish reveals anatomical insights about the vertebrate skull and how skull organization evolved from that of ancestral early vertebrates to that of jawed ...

It's easy to take our eyes for granted. But our recent research shows they took an incredible evolutionary journey to reach ...

New CU Boulder-led research finds that the traits that make vertebrates distinct from invertebrates were made possible by the emergence of a new set of genes 500 million years ago, documenting an ...

The aptly named resplendent quetzal is prized for its plumage. Golden poison frogs are popular creatures in the pet trade. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy, and their scales are used in ...

A team of biologists found that the picture of dramatically declining vertebrate populations of all kinds is driven by a small number of outlier populations whose numbers are dropping at extreme rates ...

New research finds that the traits that make vertebrates distinct from invertebrates were made possible by the emergence of a new set of genes 500 million years ago, documenting an important episode ...