A potted scarlet monkeyflower would die within a few days without water. But multiple natural populations of the species survived an extreme, four-year drought in California, and researchers now know ...

The story of a wildflower that adapted to a severe drought in California raises hopes that evolution will come to the rescue of species hit by climate change, but there are limits ...

Wild scarlet monkeyflowers in California survived a historic drought by relying on a rapid evolution, marking the first time the process has been observed in the wild.

Understanding history helps us make sense of the present and even make predictions for the future. It’s not just historians who study history, but scientists as well. As climate change shifts the ...

The ancestors of our furry cats and dogs once looked similar to today's modern mongoose, a mammal with a long body and small, round ears. In fact, all members of the order Carnivora, which includes a ...

Have you ever wondered why moose in Alaska are larger than their southern relatives? Have you considered why many Arctic mammals appear bulkier than species living closer to the equator? There’s a ...

“They (polar bears) have indeed lost a lot of their past genetic diversity, and because of this, they are very likely more sensitive to climate-change threats today.” An analysis of newly sequenced ...

Some animals are evolving faster than scientists previously thought possible, due to climate change. We can too.

Smithsonian Magazine: Sarah Diamond, an associate professor at the College of Arts and Sciences, shared her insights on whether evolution can keep up with the rate of human-caused climate change.