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Getting close was a challenge. Cracking it was key to an incredible 30-year study of the wild meerkats of the Kalahari. 

̽��ֱ��average body size of humans has fluctuated significantly over the last million years and is strongly linked to temperature. Colder, harsher climates drove the evolution of larger body sizes, while warmer climates led to smaller bodies. Brain size also changed dramatically but did not evolve in tandem with body size.

Bill Sutherland has started a revolution in conservation. Put simply he’d “like us to stop doing the things that we know don't work and do more of the things that do” – and with global collaborators is building the tools to help people achieve this.

Killer flies can reach accelerations of over 3g when aerial diving to catch their prey – but at such high speeds they often miss because they can’t correct their course.

̽��ֱ��White-tailed Swallow and Ethiopian Bush-crow are living in ‘climatic lifeboats’ with their tiny ranges restricted on all sides by temperature and rainfall patterns. Even under moderate climate warming, models predict a severe loss of suitable climate for these birds within the next 50 years - dramatically heightening their risk of extinction.

Scientists have reconstructed ancient DNA from soil for the first time, in an advance that will significantly enhance the study of animal, plant and microorganism evolution.

Moving endangered species to new locations is often used as part of species conservation strategies, and can help to restore degraded ecosystems. But scientists say there is a high risk that these relocations are accidentally spreading diseases and parasites.

̽��ֱ��largest study of its kind finds that in most cases economic value is higher when habitats are conserved or restored, rather than converted to uses such as farming.

Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favoured by bats.

Butterflies have evolved to produce a strongly scented chemical in their genitals, which they leave behind after sex to deter other males from pursuing their mates.