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? Sean B. Carroll, Ph.D. explores how new patterns evolve when 'old' genes learn new tricks. Old genes learning new tricks also apply to our own species and the evolution of traits that distinguish us from earlier hominids and other apes. Despite immense advances in evidence and understanding, there remains a societal struggle with the acceptance of our biological history and the evolutionary process. From the Series:HHMI’s Understanding Biomedical Research Series