Animals

Animals

A ‘trapdoor’ made of muscle and fat helps fin whales eat without choking

An “oral plug” may explain how lunge-feeding fin whales don’t choke and drown as they fill their mouths with prey and water while eating.

Animals

These tiny beetles fly fast thanks to wing bristles and a weird, wide stroke

Minuscule featherwing beetles have evolved a unique way of flying that lets them match the speed of beetles three times as big.

Animals

Scientists vacuumed animal DNA out of thin air for the first time

The ability to sniff out animals’ airborne genetic material has been on researchers’ wish list for over a decade.

Animals

Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans

Syria’s 4,500-year-old kungas were donkey-wild ass hybrids, genetic analysis reveals, so the earliest known example of humans crossing animal species.

Animals

The largest group of nesting fish ever found lives beneath Antarctic ice

Researchers stumbled upon a fish breeding colony of unprecedented size, spanning a territory slightly larger than Baltimore.

Animals

Female dolphins have a clitoris much like humans’

The similarities suggest female dolphins experience sexual pleasure, which may explain why the species is so randy all the time.

Animals

Here’s what goldfish driving ‘cars’ tell us about navigation

When measuring intelligence, the saying goes, don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. But what about its ability to drive a vehicle?

Microbes

Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics

A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.

Animals

Here’s how spider geckos survive on Earth’s hottest landscape

An analysis of the stomach contents of Misonne’s spider geckos shows there are more critters in the heart of Iran’s Lut Desert than meets the eye.

Animals

A 1,306-legged millipede is the first to live up to its name

Scientists have discovered the first true millipede, an elongated, threadlike creature with a whopping 1,306 legs.

Animals

Here are 7 incredible things we learned this year that animals can do

From wielding weapons to walking on the underside of water, these are the creature capabilities that most impressed us in 2021.

Animals

50 years ago, scientists were genetically modifying mosquitoes

In 1971, scientists turned to genetics to control disease-spreading mosquitoes without DDT. Today, there are a variety of pesticide-free methods.