Animals

  1. Health & Medicine

    Bird flu has been invading the brains of mammals. Here’s why

    Although H5N1 and its relatives can cause mild disease in some animals, these viruses are more likely to infect brain tissue than other types of flu.

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  2. Genetics

    Freeze-drying turned a woolly mammoth’s DNA into 3-D ‘chromoglass’

    A new technique for probing the 3-D structure of ancient DNA may help scientists learn how extinct animals functioned, not just what they looked like.

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  3. Animals

    Tiny saunas help frogs fight off chytrid fungus

    Balmy shelters could bolster resistance to the deadly fungus in amphibian populations, but experts caution they won’t work for all susceptible species.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Bird flu viruses may infect mammary glands more commonly than thought

    H5N1 turning up in cow milk was a big hint. The virus circulating in U.S. cows can infect the mammary glands of mice and ferrets, too.

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  5. Paleontology

    The last woolly mammoths offer new clues to why the species went extinct

    The last population of woolly mammoths did not go extinct 4,000 years ago from inbreeding, a new analysis shows.

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  6. Animals

    Beneficial bacteria help these marine worms survive extreme cold

    Three species of marine worms living in Antarctic waters have beneficial relationships with bacteria that produce antifreeze proteins.

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  7. Animals

    Can leeches leap? New video may help answer that debate

    For some, it’s the stuff of nightmares. But a grad student’s serendipitous cell phone video might resolve a long-running debate over leech acrobatics.

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  8. Animals

    ‘Cull of the Wild’ questions sacrificing wildlife in the name of conservation

    In his new book, ecologist Hugh Warwick seeks middle ground in the waging battle that is wildlife management.

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  9. Anthropology

    Fossil finds amplify Europe’s status as a hotbed of great ape evolution

    A kneecap and two teeth belonged to the smallest known great ape, a study contends. If so, it’s the first to coexist with another great ape in Europe.

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  10. Genetics

    Horses may have been domesticated twice. Only one attempt stuck

    Genetic evidence suggests that the ancestors of domestic horses were bred for mobility about 4,200 years ago.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Bird flu can infect cats. What does that mean for their people?

    Pet owners can take precautions to avoid H5N1, such as keeping cats indoors and making sure they don’t eat raw meat or milk.

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  12. Animals

    A built-in pocket protector keeps sawfish from ‘sword fighting’ in the womb

    What’s to prevent pups, with a snout that resembles a hedge trimmer, from slicing and dicing each other in mom’s uterus? Scientists have the answer.

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