Animals
- Archaeology
Wild monkeys throw curve at stone-tool making’s origins
Monkeys that make sharp-edged stones raise questions about evolution of stone tool production.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Melatonin makes midshipman fish sing
Melatonin lets people sleep but starts male midshipman fish melodiously humming their hearts out.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Berries may give yellow woodpeckers a red dye job
A diet of invasive honeysuckle berries may be behind stray red feathers in woodpeckers called yellow-shafted flickers.
- Animals
Be careful what you say around jumping spiders
Sensitive leg hairs may let jumping spiders hear sounds through the air at much greater distances than researchers imagined.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Hot and spicy pain signals get blocked in naked mole-rats
Naked mole-rats have a protein that interrupts pain signal.
- Animals
Hot and spicy pain signals get blocked in naked mole-rats
Naked mole-rats have a protein that interrupts pain signal.
- Paleontology
Birds’ honks filled Late Cretaceous air
Oldest avian voice box fossil yet discovered belonged to a ducklike bird that lived during the age of the dinosaurs.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
Painted lady butterflies’ migration may take them across the Sahara
The migratory patterns of painted lady butterflies are largely unknown. Now scientists have found evidence that some may migrate across the Sahara.
- Animals
African elephants walk on their tippy-toes
Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.
- Animals
African elephants walk on their tippy-toes
Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.
- Animals
Bees take longer to learn floral odors polluted by vehicle fumes
Car and truck exhaust mingling with a floral scent can slow down the important process of honeybees learning the fragrance of a flower.
By Susan Milius - Plants
Flower lures pollinators with smell of honeybee fear
When it comes to attracting pollinators, one flower species catches more flies with honeybees.