Animals
Bats might be the next bird flu wild card
Finding that vampire bats along Peru’s coast carried H5N1 antibodies raises concerns that multiple bat species could become reservoirs for the virus.
Animals
More Stories in Animals
- Animals
How male seahorses tap into their mothering side
By studying the genes responsible for the seahorse’s brood pouch, researchers uncovered a new route to “motherhood.”
- Animals
Ancient DNA reveals China’s first ‘pet’ cat wasn’t the house cat
The modern house cat reached China in the 8th century. Before that, another cat — the leopard cat — hunted the rodents in ancient Chinese settlements.
- Animals
Cuddly koalas had a brutal, blade-toothed close cousin
Ancient collagen preserved in the bones of extinct Australian mammals is revealing their evolutionary relationships, leading to some surprises.
- Life
Rats are snatching bats out of the air and eating them
The grisly infrared camera footage records a never-before-seen hunting tactic. It may have implications for bat conservation.
- Physics
Here’s how Rudolph’s light-up nose might be possible
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his famously bright snout. But physics would make it look different colors from the ground.
- Animals
Lions have a second roar that no one noticed until now
A machine learning analysis of wild lion audio reveals they have two roar types, not one. This insight might help detect where lions are declining.
- Animals
A wolf raided a crab trap. Was it tool use or just canine cunning?
Video from the Haíɫzaqv Nation Indigenous community shows a wolf hauling a crab trap ashore. Scientists are split on whether it counts as tool use.
- Animals
This parasitic ant tricks workers into committing matricide
Newly mated parasitic queen ants invade colonies and spray their victims with a chemical irritant that provokes the workers to kill their mother.
- Animals
40,000-year-old woolly mammoth RNA offers a peek into its last moments
Ancient RNA from Yuka, a 40,000-year-old woolly mammoth preserved in permafrost, can offer new biological insights into the Ice Age animal’s life.
