Animals

  1. Life

    Animal origins shift to comb jellies

    Genetic data confirm the marine predators have more ancient origin than simpler sponges.

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  2. Animals

    Lizard breath has surprising birdlike flow

    Decades of assumptions may be wrong about the evolution of reptile lungs.

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  3. Animals

    Leaping land fish avoids predators by blending in

    The Pacific leaping blenny avoids being eaten by predators by blending into its rocky habitat.

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  4. Animals

    Grizzly bears get stressed from salmon decline

    Grizzlies in coastal British Columbia bulk up on salmon in the fall, but they experience stress when the fish are scarce.

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  5. Animals

    A corsage that bites

    The orchid mantis uses a flowery subterfuge to lure prey.

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  6. Animals

    Dazzle camouflage may fool a locust

    The bold zig-zag patterns that adorned naval ships during the world wars also appear in nature and may bewilder locusts, a new study suggests.

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  7. Animals

    How the ghost shark lost its stomach

    The lack of a digestive organ in fish and other animals is linked to genetics.

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  8. Animals

    How koalas sing low

    Extra set of vocal cords lets males hit surprisingly low notes.

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  9. Animals

    DNA study reveals new wild cat species in Brazil

    A new small cat species, Leopardus guttulus, was discovered in Brazil, hiding in plain sight. The oncilla, researchers say, is really two kinds of cat.

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  10. Animals

    Insect form of sexual frustration takes toll

    Smelling female fruit flies but not mating with them can actually shorten males’ lives.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Cannibalistic mantis invades New Zealand, eats natives

    Native male New Zealand mantises try to mate with females of an invasive species, only to find out the hard way that those females eat their mates.

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  12. Animals

    To study turkey instincts, consider robot turkeys

    In 2004, Australian researchers built robot turkeys to study the instincts of Australian brush turkey chicks. Robots can be a useful way of learning more about animals, but the use of robots has yet to take over in animal behavior studies.

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