Animals

Animals

Shimmer and shine may help prey sabotage predators’ aim

Iridescent prey was more difficult to strike in a video game for birds.

Genetics

Contagious cancer found in clams

A soft-shell clam disease is just the third example of a contagious cancer.

Animals

Tiny sea turtles are swimmers, not drifters

Young green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles moved in different directions than instruments set adrift in the sea, which shows the animals were swimming.

Animals

Dealing with droughts, museums going digital and more reader feedback

Readers share their experiences with dry weather in the U.S., discuss how humans mentally sort quantities and more.

Life

It’s true: Butterfly spots can mimic scary eyes

Contrary to recent studies, the old notion that butterfly wing eyespots evoke predator eyes may not be so old-fashioned after all.

Paleontology

Brontosaurus deserves its name, after all

Brontosaurus belongs in a genus separate from Apatosaurus, a new study proposes.

Animals

Distinct voices fill the fish soundscape at night

Researchers find that fish sound frequencies overlap more during the day and are more distinct at night.

Animals

Mouse mates with similar personalities start families faster

Among monogamous mound-building mice, the more closely mates match in a tendency toward anxiety, the sooner they start having babies

Animals

Eggs and other land foods won’t feed polar bears

Polar bears will not be able to survive on land by eating birds, eggs and vegetation, a new review concludes.

Animals

‘Domesticated’ explores how humans have altered animals

Science journalist Richard Francis delves into the genetic changes humans have caused in dogs, cats, pigs, horses, camels and more.

Animals

‘The Last Unicorn’ takes readers on quest to see a saola

Nature writer William deBuys introduces readers to the enigmatic saola of Southeast Asia.

Oceans

UV light reveals hidden patterns on seashell fossils

Under UV light, fossil seashell color patterns glow, a researcher finds.