A dolphin breaking the surface for air can seem like a reminder of its mammalian past. But evolution is not nostalgia. The same body that still needs oxygen from the atmosphere is also one of the ...

Doing so reveals not just aspects of how the human capacity for empathy may have evolved from traits seen in our ancestors, but also displays the mysterious details of evolution by natural selection.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Scientists thought they had a pretty good ...

Hamilton, H., Caballero, S., Collins, Allen Gilbert, and Brownell, Robert L., Jr. 2001. "Evolution of river dolphins." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological ...