Animals
- Paleontology
With dinosaurs out of the way, mammals had a chance to thrive
The animals that lived through the great extinction event had a range of survival strategies to get them through.
- Life
Some lucky birds escaped dino doomsday
Dino doomsday took out early birds too, but a lucky few survived.
- Animals
Desert ants look to the sky, rely on memory to navigate backward
Desert ants appear to use a combination of visual memory and celestial cues to make it back to the nest walking butt-first, researchers find.
- Animals
How desert ants navigate walking backward
Desert ants appear to use a combination of visual memory and celestial cues to make it back to the nest walking butt-first, researchers find.
- 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.
