Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

Shaw Badenhorst works for the University of the Witwatersrand. He receives funding from GENUS, the National Research Foundation and the Palaeontological Scientific Trust. South Africa has one of the ...

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Ancient Egyptian history is brought to life by a cast of thousands, from Tutankhamun’s gilded death mask to the pyramids’ enigmatic ...

Paleontologists who study earth’s ancient fossil record might not seem to be the obvious choice when asking about the prevalence of intelligent life in the cosmos. But paleontology, the study of ...

Researchers at the University of Maine are theorizing that human beings may be in the midst of a major evolutionary shift—driven not by genes, but by culture. "Human evolution seems to be changing ...

A lot’s changed on the surface of the Earth over the past 4.5 billion years. This video explains the long, slow process that enabled simple cells to evolve into the creatures that inhabit our planet ...