Animals
- Paleontology
Dimetrodon’s diet redetermined
The reptilelike Dimetrodon dined mainly on amphibians and sharks, not big herbivores as scientists once believed.
- Animals
Bees get hooked on flowers’ caffeine buzz
Flowers drug honey bees with caffeinated nectar to trick them into returning, causing the bees to shift their foraging and dancing behaviors.
- Animals
Root fungi make or break monarchs’ chances against parasite
Fungi that live amid the roots of milkweed plants change the chemicals produced in the plant’s leaves, which can either aid or hinder a monarch butterfly’s ability to fight off parasites.
- Health & Medicine
Elephants’ cancer-protection secret may be in the genes
An extra dose of cancer-fighting genes may be the secret to elephants’ long life spans.
- Animals
Ecotourism could bring new dangers to animals
The presence of kindly tourists could make animals more vulnerable to predation and poaching, a new study warns.
- Animals
Jumping conchs triumph at overheated athletics
“Simple” circulatory system outdoes fancier ones in delivering oxygen for jumping conchs in simulated climate change conditions.
- Oceans
Widespread coral bleaching threatens world’s reefs
The world’s corals are experiencing their third major bleaching event in 17 years.
- Animals
Fish have had telescoping jaws for 100 million years
Around 100 million years ago, fish developed a knack for extending their jaws to snare prey, and they’ve been perfecting this hunting technique ever since.
- Animals
How the giraffe got its long neck
A new study of fossils suggests that the giraffe’s defining feature may have started evolving long before modern giraffes came on the scene.
- Animals
Oldest pregnant horselike fossil found
A 48-million-year-old fossil of an early horse and fetus is the oldest and best-preserved specimen of its kind.
- Animals
No eyes, no problem for color-sensing coral larvae
Switching colors of underwater light can switch preferences for where staghorn corals choose their forever homes.
- Humans
Chimpanzees show surprising flexibility on two feet
Chimpanzees’ upper-body flexibility while walking upright suggests ancient hominids walked effectively.
