Animals
- Animals
Numbers of California blue whales rebound
Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, were hunted nearly to extinction. Now the population that feeds off the coast of California appears to have rebounded to close to prewhaling numbers.
- Animals
Archerfish mouth is the secret of precision spit
Trained fish shoot down two hypotheses for their fine spit control but reveal fancy mouth work.
- Animals
A fish reared out of water walks better
The normally aquatic fish Senegal bichir raised on land suggests how ancient species might have transitioned into terrestrial ones.
- Animals
Ducks may like water, but they don’t use it to navigate
Scientists tracking ducks in Illinois with radar found that the waterfowl didn’t bother using a river to navigate their way south.
- Animals
Bats hunt ballooning túngara frogs by echolocation
Bat echolocation tracks the billowing vocal sacs of male túngara frogs.
- Health & Medicine
Tiny mites are probably crawling all over your face
Two skin mites, relatives of spiders, might populate the faces of all adult humans, according to a DNA survey.
- Animals
Spiders get bigger in the big city
City-living golden orb-weaving spiders tend to be bigger than those that live in the countryside, a new study finds.
- Animals
Magpies don’t like shiny things
Magpies’ reputation as thieving birds that will steal shiny objects is all wrong, a new study finds.
- Animals
Antarctic midge sports tiniest insect genome
Antarctic midge‘s genetic minimalism achieved by skipping a lot of repetitive stretches.
- Animals
Corals, fish know bad reefs by their whiff
Compounds drifting off certain overgrown seaweeds discourage young corals and fish from settling in failing reefs.
- Animals
Bumphead parrot fish declare their arrival with a crunch
Months of swimming with the coral-biter bumpheads exposes the animal’s extreme digestion and also a conservation dilemma.
- Animals
Seeing past the jellyfish sting
Jellies don’t get nearly as much love as their cousins, the corals, but they deserve credit for providing homes to some creatures, dinner to others and more. They’re an integral part of the oceans.
