Discover the wide range of fish and freshwater creatures that call the Tennessee River and its surrounding valley home.

Deep in the waters along the Atlantic Coast swims a fish that looks like it’s smiling—because it almost is. Known as the ...

Scientists found thousands of patterned fish nests in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, boosting calls for marine protected areas.

Almost 2 million years ago, a young ancient human died beside a spring near a lake in what is now Tanzania, in eastern Africa ...

Traditionally, paleoanthropologists believed that Homo habilis, as the earliest big-brained humans, was responsible for the earliest sites with tools. The idea has been that Homo habilis was the ...

As one of the world’s most diverse vertebrates, fish can come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. With over 33,000 ...

The extinct animal's face structure could help explain how vertebrates, including ourselves, evolved our distinctive look.

Scientists discovered true teeth growing on the head of the spotted ratfish, a distant shark relative. The toothed structure, ...

Archaeologists have made a discovery so sensational that they have waited 1 year to announce it as they had to be sure they had the dating correct. A set of teeth belonging to an early hominin species ...

We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. Travel involves two main expenditures of energy: fighting gravity and propelling ...

Humans stand apart from many other primates by taking more time to mature, relying on a supportive network of parents, grandparents, and community members during a long period of childhood. This ...

Ian Towle receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC DP240101081). Luca Fiorenza receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC DP240101081). For decades, small grooves on ...