Topic: Evolutionary Biology

All in the Family
In this Evolution Web feature, test your skills at judging who's who on the tree of life while you learn about the tools and methods of cladistics.

Ancient Farmers of the Amazon
This video segment from Evolution: "Evolutionary Arms Race" tells the story of the leafcutter ant and the fungus it farms -- an example of mutually beneficial symbiosis.

Bt Corn
This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" looks at corn that has been genetically modified to resist one insect pest, and the multiple concerns it raises.

Carnivorous Plants
In this video adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, learn about carnivorous plants that act as both producers and consumers in an ecosystem. See sundews and blatterworts capture and digest insects.

Chris Schneider: Rethinking Conservation
In this interview filmed for Evolution: "Darwin's Dangerous Idea," biologist Chris Schneider discusses the relationship between conservation and speciation.

The Common Genetic Code
Paul Nurse describes his research that showed that humans share some genes with organisms as different from us as simple brewer's yeast. Footage from Secret of Life: "Immortal Thread."

Continental Divide: The Breakup of Pangaea
Examine geological evidence found in fossils, rock deposits, and ancient mountains that supports the theory of continental drift in this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium.

Darwin's Diary
Delve into the private thoughts of a reluctant revolutionary in this Evolution Web feature.

Darwin's Letters to Lyell
In this letter written to his friend and mentor Charles Lyell less than three weeks after the publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin describes the reaction of the great anatomist Richard Owen to his theory. From Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection 1825-1859.

Deep Time
Explore 4 billion years of life on Earth and discover major transformations, geological changes, and extinction episodes in this Evolution Web feature.

Double Immunity
Dr. Stephen O'Brien of the National Cancer Institute discovers a 700-year-old mutation that makes a person resistant to HIV infection. From Evolution: "Evolutionary Arms Race."

Evolution of the Eye
Zoologist Dan-Erik Nilsson demonstrates how the complex human eye could have evolved from simple light-sensitive cells. From Evolution: "Darwin's Dangerous Idea."

Evolution Revolution
From the Evolution Web site, explore the rise of a revolutionary idea and the controversies that surround it.

Evolving Ideas: How Does Evolution Really Work?
The process of evolution through natural selection is the focus of this video segment from Evolution, which presents a field study of hummingbird speciation in Ecuador.

Evolving Ideas: Who Was Charles Darwin?
This video from Evolution highlights Charles Darwin's personal struggle to bring to light his theory of evolution through natural selection.

Finch Beak Data Sheet
This graphic from Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches by Peter Grant presents data from the Galapagos Islands, showing that a severe drought put selective pressure on the population of Darwin's finches and resulted in a change in the average beak size in the next generation.

Fish with Fingers
In this video segment from Evolution: "Great Transformations," paleontologist Jenny Clack explains that vertebrates evolved fingers before they invaded land.

Frozen Frogs
This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW shows how the common wood frog freezes solid every winter, an adaptation that allows the organism to survive the cold winter.

Geneticist Pardis Sabeti
In this video profile adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about geneticist and rock musician Pardis Sabeti, whose innovative insights into natural selection demonstrated how beneficial mutations spread quickly through a population.

Genetic Variation
This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explores the genetic similarities and differences among organisms.

Homo Sapiens Versus Neanderthals
This video segment, adapted from NOVA, explores reasons why Homo sapiens had an advantage over Neanderthals in the pursuit of territory and natural resources.

Human Chromosome 2
In this video segment adapted from NOVA: "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," learn how modern genetics and molecular biology offer compelling support for evolution. The video features an interview with biologist Ken Miller.

Ingredients for Life: Water
This video segment adapted from NOVA goes on a whimsical journey in search of life forms thriving in extreme conditions on Earth and in outer space. Animations show ice on Jupiter's moon, Europa, and signs that water once existed on Mars.

Isolating Mechanisms: Lacewing Songs
Hear the different songs of three lacewing flies, which serve as reproductive isolating mechanisms between species and determine mate choice. Lacewing audio song from Charles Henry.

Laetoli Trackways Diagram
View a diagram of the hominid footprints that archaeologist Mary Leakey's team found at Laetoli in Tanzania.

Life Before Oxygen
This Interactive NOVA: "Earth" video segment looks at ancient organisms that lived anaerobically, the origins of photosynthesis, and the new forms of life this process made possible.

Microbe Clock
In this Evolution Web feature, learn how mutation and fast reproductive rates can allow deadly microbes to outpace medical breakthroughs.

Mimicry: The Orchid and the Bee
In this photograph from Oxford Scientific Films, a horned bee attempts to mate with an Ophrys orchid, which has evolved to resemble a female bee.

Molecular Clocks: Proteins That Evolve at Different Rates
From The Human Evolution Coloring Book by Adrienne Zihlman, four different proteins from humans and horses are compared in this graphic and article, and the reasons each protein evolves at its own characteristic rate are discussed. Each protein is useful for measuring evolutionary change over a different time scale.

Nihoa Island
This video segment adapted from the NOW-RAMP 2002 Expedition documents a research expedition to Nihoa Island. It showcases Nihoa's unique birds and plants, the threat posed by invading grasshoppers, and restoration efforts.

Origins of Humankind
In this Evolution feature, examine a six-million-year-long fossil record to learn about the evolution of the human family.

Radiometric Dating
In this video segment from A Science Odyssey: "Origins," scientists explain how Earth's age was determined by radiometric dating.

The Red Queen
An example of the Red Queen hypothesis, the sexual population of Mexican Poeciliid fish are able to keep up with a changing environment, while the asexual populations are not as successful. From Evolution: "Why Sex?"

Sex and the Single Guppy
Play in our streams and see how exhibitionism has an evolutionary payoff in this Evolution simulation of Endler's experiment.

Should We Grow GM Crops?
Learn the pros and cons of genetically modified (GM) crops, and cast your vote on whether they should be grown. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.

Taking the Earth's Temperature
This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts.

Ted Daeschler and Neil Shubin: Early Tetrapod Fossils
In this transcript of an interview filmed for Evolution: "Great Transformations," Ted Daeschler and Neil Shubin describe the discovery and significance of some of their key fossil finds.

Tracing Human Evolution to Its Roots
This graphic from Biology by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine suggests how some recent hominid fossil finds might fit into the overall picture of hominid evolution. As more fossils are found and further analysis advances our understanding of human evolution, this picture will almost certainly be revised.

Transitional Tetrapod Fossil
In this video segment from NOVA: "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," learn about the discovery of a well-preserved transitional fossil and how such transitional fossils support the theory of evolution.