Animals
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Plants
Animals’ jaundice pigment found in plants
Bilirubin, a compound well known in animals, gives seed fuzz its intense orange.
By Susan Milius -
Genetics
Dog gene heeds call of the wild
Domesticated dogs passed a gene for dark fur color to their wild cousins.
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Life
A Most Private Evolution
The most dramatic examples of the power of evolutionary theory may come from the strange and ugly stuff — biology too dumb to have been designed.
By Susan Milius -
Life
Capuchin monkeys choose the right tool for the nut
New field experiments indicate that wild capuchin monkeys choose the most effective stones for cracking nuts, suggesting deep evolutionary roots for the use of stone tools.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
Dolphins wield tools of the sea
A long-term study of dolphins living off Australia’s coast finds that a small number of them, mostly females, frequently use sea sponges to forage for fish on the ocean floor.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
Dogs will go on strike over unfair treats
Equal sausage demanded for equal paw shakes.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
Honeybee CSI: Why dead bodies can’t be found
Virus could explain one symptom of colony collapse.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Lizard push-ups grab attention
Nearby lizards more likely to get the message if its preceded by push-ups
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Life
Mammoth genome approaching completion
Genetic material extracted from the hair of woolly mammoths has revealed new information about the extinct creatures, including how closely related they are to modern elephants.
By Sid Perkins -
Animals
Forensics’ next tool: Hair-collecting caterpillars
First human DNA extraction from hair bits in moth larval case.
By Susan Milius