Deep within the dense foliage of Papua New Guinea lives the world’s smallest vertebrate. Meet Paedophryne amauensis, a ...

A team of herpetologists at the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz just reported that a tiny frog found only in a hilltop forest in southern Bahia, Brazil, may be the smallest vertebrate in the world ...

A breakthrough in genetics reveals how spines first appeared, changing what we know about the evolution of complex species.

Quick Take A 436-million-year-old bony fish fossil has successfully helped researchers better understand vertebrate evolution ...

An international team of ecologists, life scientists, conservationists and biologists has found that humans prey on approximately one-third of all vertebrate species in existence. In their study, ...

Reference genome assemblies provide a map of a species’ DNA sequence and its spatial context—that is, where along the chromosomes a specific piece of DNA sequence can be found. In the past, the ...

Individual Greenland sharks appear to live perhaps a century longer than any other vertebrate, and might have life spans approaching 500 years. By human standards, a few vertebrate species have ...

Learn how increased protein diversity in signaling genes may have helped drive the shift from invertebrates to vertebrates, reshaping how animals with a spine evolved. From frogs and fish to birds and ...

It’s one of the most audacious projects in biology today—reading the entire genome of every bird, mammal, lizard, fish, and all other creatures with backbones. And now comes the first major payoff ...

In the limestone ranges of Western Australia’s Kimberley region, near the town of Fitzroy Crossing, you’ll find one of the world’s best-preserved ancient reef complexes. Here lie the remnants of ...