HomeHHMI's BioInteractiveFrom Butterflies to Humans


Free Resources for Science Education

From Butterflies to Humans


How and why butterflies and fruit flies got their spots, and the fossil record for human evolution.

Play Lecture
(Duration: 58 min 30 sec)

The story of animal evolution is marked by key innovations such as limbs for walking on land, wings for flight, and color patterns for advertising or concealment. How do new traits arise? How has the great diversity of butterflies, fish, mammals, and other animals evolved?

The invention of insect wings and the evolution of their color patterns are beautiful models of the origin of novelty and the evolution of diversity. This lecture explores how new patterns evolve when “old” genes learn new tricks.

Old genes learning new tricks also applies to our own species and the evolution of traits that distinguish us from earlier hominids and other apes: our big brains, bipedal locomotion, and speech and language. The complete picture of human evolution involves new information emerging from the fossil record, genetics, comparative physiology, and development. Despite immense advances in evidence and understanding, there remains a societal struggle with the acceptance of our biological history and the evolutionary process, the roots of which are discussed in this lecture.

Download this item

Related Scientists

Vice President, Science Education

Additional Materials

Bulletin Article