Animals
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Animals
Bonobos adept at nut cracking
Bonobos demonstrate their overlooked nut-cracking skills in an African sanctuary.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
Bonobos rival chimps at the art of cracking oil palm nuts
Bonobos demonstrate their overlooked nut-cracking skills in an African sanctuary.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
In drought, zebra finches wring water from their own fat
A zebra finch with no water or food can keep itself hydrated by metabolizing body fat.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Tail vibrations may have preceded evolution of rattlesnake rattle
The rattle on a rattlesnake evolved just once. A new study contends it may have come out of a common behavior — tail vibration — that snakes use to deter predators.
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Animals
For snowy owls, wintering on the prairie might be normal
Some snowy owls leave the Arctic for winter. That’s not a desperate move, new study says.
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Animals
Dog brains divide language tasks much like humans do
Dogs understand what we say separately from how we say it.
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Health & Medicine
Mosquito moms can pass Zika to offspring
In the lab, Zika virus can pass from a female mosquito to her eggs, suggesting how infections can flare up again after adult insects dwindle.
By Susan Milius -
Genetics
Genes help snub-nosed monkeys live the high life
Snub nosed monkeys have certain genetic variants that help them breathe easy in low oxygen.
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Animals
Warm-up benefit could explain morning birdsong
Even birds sing better after vocal warm-up, and an evolutionary arms race among rivals might have led to the intensity of the dawn chorus.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Ways to beat heat have hidden costs for birds
Birds that look as if they’re coping with heat waves and climate change may actually be on a downward slide, with underappreciated disadvantages of panting and seeking shade.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
The weird mating habits of daddy longlegs
Scientists studying the sex lives of daddy longlegs are finding there’s a lot of diversity among this group of arachnids.
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Genetics
Darwin’s Dogs wants your dog’s DNA
The Darwin’s Dogs citizen science project is collecting canine DNA to better understand dog genetics and behavior.