Animals
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Animals
Cat History: DNA study finds domestic-cat kin
DNA evidence shows that the Near Eastern lineage of the wildcat, one of five lineages of Felis silvestris, gave rise to today's domestic kitty cats.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
West Nile virus hits bird populations
West Nile virus has hammered populations of five common North American birds.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Profiles in Courtship: Flirting male fish show their best sides
Courting male guppies that sport a tad more orange on one side of their bodies than on the other tend to flash that brighter side at females.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Clownfish noisemaker is new to science
Clownfish make "pop-pop-pop" noises at each other by clacking their teeth together in a novel way.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Moths mimic ‘Don’t eat me’ sounds
Moths that make clicking noises at predatory bats are mimicking a defensive signal made by other moths that click and also taste bad.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Scary Singing: Precise birds signal, ‘Don’t mess with us’
A pair of magpie-larks can advertise their toughness by the precision of the duets they sing.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Pothole Pals: Ants pave roads for fellow raiders
By throwing their bodies into tiny potholes on rough trails, army ants enable their comrade to race over them, improving the colony's overall foraging success.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Virgin Birth: Shark has daughter without a dad
DNA testing of two sharks confirms an instance of reproduction without mating, adding a fifth major vertebrate lineage to those known for occasional virgin births.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Low Life: Cold, polar ocean looks surprisingly rich
The first survey of life in deep waters around Antarctica has turned up hundreds of new species and a lot more variety than explorers had expected.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Face it: Termites are roaches
Termites are just cockroaches with a fancy social life.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Sex—perhaps a good idea after all
A family of mites may be the first animal lineage shown to have abandoned sexual reproduction and then reevolved it millions of years later.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Egg Shell Game
Birds apparently cheat chance when it comes to laying eggs that contain sons or daughters.
By Susan Milius