Animals
- Ecosystems
In debate over origin of fairy circles, both sides might be right
Odd bare spots called fairy circles in African grasslands might be caused by both termites and plants.
- Life
Here’s how earwax might clean ears
Science seeks inspiration in earwax for dreams of self-cleaning machinery.
- Animals
It takes guts for a sea spider to pump blood
Most sea spiders have hearts, but what really gets their blood flowing are gut contractions.
- Paleontology
Ancient oddball invertebrate finds its place on the tree of life
Ancient marine invertebrates called hyoliths may be more closely related to modern horseshoe worms than mollusks, a fossil analysis finds.
- Animals
‘Furry Logic’ showcases how animals exploit physics
"Furry Logic" explores how animals rely on the laws of physics in pursuit of food, sex and survival.
- Animals
Unusually loose skin helps hagfish survive shark attacks
Hagfish skin that easily slips and slides can be a lifesaver in crises such as shark attacks.
- Animals
These acorn worms have a head for swimming
The larvae of one type of acorn worm are basically “swimming heads,” according to new genetic analyses.
- Animals
World’s largest reindeer population may fall victim to climate change
Climate change and wolves are driving down the reindeer population in Russia’s Taimyr population.
- Ecosystems
Long-ignored, high-flying arthropods could make up largest land migrations
Forget birds. 3.5 trillion insects, spiders and mites a year fly over the southern United Kingdom.
- Animals
Tales of creatures large and small made news this year
Scientists filled in the details of some famous evolutionary tales in 2016 — and discovered a few surprises about creatures large and small.
- Animals
For some salamanders, finding a mate is a marathon
Small-mouthed salamanders will travel close to nine kilometers on average to mate, a new study finds.
- Animals
Chimps look at behinds the way we look at faces
Humans demonstrate something called the inversion effect when gazing at faces. Chimpanzees do this too — when looking at other chimps’ butts.
