All Stories by Jake Buehler
- Animals
Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl
Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.
- Animals
Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong
Snakes were long thought to be the only reptile group to lack clitorises. But new findings suggest the sex organs are present after all.
- Paleontology
Armored dinos may have used their tail clubs to bludgeon each other
Broken and healed spikes on Zuul's flanks are consistent with the armored beast receiving a mighty blow from the tail club of another ankylosaur.
- Life
A parasite makes wolves more likely to become pack leaders
In Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves infected with Toxoplasma gondii make riskier decisions, making them more likely to split off from the pack.
- Animals
Long considered loners, many marsupials may have complex social lives
Some marsupials may be more sociable than previously thought, opening the door to a possible deep legacy of social organization systems in mammals
- Oceans
Sharks face rising odds of extinction even as other big fish populations recover
Over the last 70 years, large ocean fishes like tuna and marlin have been recovering from overfishing. But sharks continue to decline toward extinction.
- Health & Medicine
A major malaria outbreak in Ethiopia came from an invasive Asian mosquito
Malaria may become a much bigger problem in Africa’s cities if the invasive mosquito continues to spread.
- Paleontology
Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be rare flukes after all
Bite marks on a fossilized dinosaur upend the idea that exquisite skin preservation must result from a carcass's immediate smothering under sediment.
- Life
Not all camouflage is equal. Here are prey animals’ best options
When prey masquerade as innocuous objects in the environment, they slow detection from predators by nearly 300 percent.
- Life
Ancient ‘demon ducks’ may have been undone by their slow growth
Mihirung birds grew to more than half a ton and took their time getting there. That slow growth may have been a vulnerability when humans got to Australia.
- Animals
How slow and steady lionfish win the race against fast prey
Lionfish overcome speedy prey with persistent pursuit, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Other slow predatory fish may use the technique too.
- Life
Like bees of the sea, crustaceans ‘pollinate’ seaweed
Crustaceans shuttle around red algae’s sex cells, helping the seaweed reproduce in a manner remarkably similar to flower pollination.
