When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The human outer ear may have arisen from ancient fish gills. | Credit: A. Martin UW ...

It turns out the human ear got off to a fishy start. Literally. A fascinating new study reveals that the mammalian outer ear ...

The outer ear is unique to mammals, but its evolutionary origin has remained a mystery. According to a study published in Nature from the USC Stem Cell lab of Gage Crump, this intricate coil of ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. ‘Lungfish’ would have been a common sight in the Devonian ...

When you and I take a deep breath, we pull air into our lungs. That’s because humans are mammals. But fish aren’t mammals. They usually don’t breathe air. They usually don’t have lungs. That’s what I ...

Humans' outer ears may have evolved from the gills of prehistoric fish, a new study finds. Gene-editing experiments indicate that cartilage in fish gills migrated into the ear canal millions of years ...