Face of a Galapagos lizard.

A hippopotamus-like creature swims underwater

Flippers or Feet?

An extinct mammal may have been replaced by today's sea cows. Dive into this evolution mystery to learn more.

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Featured Content

The Design of a Beautiful Weapon

This male dancing fiddler crab (Uca terpsichores) has built a sand “hood” at the entrance to his burrow, which he hopes will attract females to his humble abode—as if that big beautiful claw of his weren't enough!

September 2013

Shark Teeth Tell Great White Shark Evolution Story

A close-up image of a fossil shark jaw with teeth.

November 2012

Keeping An Ear Out For Whale Evolution

A 3-D reconstruction of the skull of a fin whale fetus.

March 2015

Menopausal Moms: A Mammal Mystery

An adult and juvenile killer whale frolic in the water.

May 2011

An ancient whale ancestor

Video

Evolution of Whales Animation

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans

Evolution Articles

Mary Rice: A Force of Nature

A woman standing in front of a barge

August 2021

Small red hyperiid.

Slideshow

The Hyper Eyes of Hyperiids: How Some Shrimp-Like Creatures See Light in the Deep Sea

An artistic rendering of an ocean landscape as it may have looked during the Archean Eon.

Slideshow

The Ocean Throughout Geologic Time, An Image Gallery

This new species of lobster (Dinochelus ausubeli) is blind and has bizarre claws. It was discovered about 300 meters (984 feet) deep in the Philippine Sea by a Census of Marine Life expedition.

Slideshow

Deep Ocean Diversity Slideshow

Scientists Call New Eel Species A Living Fossil

A photo of a swimming Protanguilla palau, the newly discovered genus and species of eel

August 2011

A bright-green sea slug with a black background.

Audio

Sea Slugs: One Species at a Time

Tunicates—Not So Spineless Invertebrates

The Komodo National Park site in Indonesia was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991. The site hosts "Komodo dragons" (Varanus komodoensis), a unique species that exists nowhere else in the world and is of great interest to scientists studying evolu

June 2018

An ancient whale ancestor

Video

Evolution of Whales Animation

Dispatches from the Field: Treacherous stream crossings and a new fossil find

A researcher holds an arm bone from a "toothed" mysticete whale from Vancouver Island.

May 2012

Keeping An Ear Out For Whale Evolution

A 3-D reconstruction of the skull of a fin whale fetus.

March 2015

A rendering of an underwater marine scene from the Cambrian Period, featuring an arthropod, annelids, and other animals.

Slideshow

A Collection of Cambrian Fossils

The Microbes That Keep Hydrothermal Vents Pumping

Riftia tubeworm (Riftia pachyptila) colonies near hot spring.

March 2016