Evolutionary biology

In the “underground economy” for soil nutrients, fungi strike hard bargains and punish plants that won’t meet their price.

For more than six decades, the influential biologist Edward O. Wilson has drawn connections between evolution, ecology and behavior, often sparking controversies inside and outside of science.

Skyrocketing animal diversity a half-billion years ago was linked to spikes and dips in marine oxygen levels, according to a detailed geological study.

Among these cave insects, the females evolved to have penises — twice. The reasons challenge common assumptions about sex.

For decades, researchers have commonly assumed that higher oxygen levels led to the sudden diversification of animal life 540 million years ago. But one iconoclast argues the opposite: that new animal behaviors raised oxygen levels and remade the environment.