Animals

Animals

Dim lighting may raise the risk of a West Nile virus exposure

Dimly lit nights increased risk of West Nile virus exposure in chickens. Artificial light proved a better predictor of risk than population or paving.

Animals

Why do sea turtles, penguins and sharks sometimes just swim in circles or spirals?

Tracking devices recorded the loops and spirals of 10 marine species. In some cases, scientists have good guesses for why; other times it’s baffling.

Paleontology

An ancient shark’s weird fins helped it glide like a manta ray

Nicknamed eagle shark, the newly discovered ancient creature achieved underwater flight 30 million years before the first rays.

Animals

Two bonobos adopted infants outside their group, marking a first for great apes

Female bonobos in a reserve in the Congo took care of orphaned infants — feeding, carrying and cuddling them — for at least one year.

Animals

Bee larvae drum with their butts, which may confuse predatory wasps

Dual percussion instruments — one on the head, the other on the rear — give mason bee larvae a peculiar musical gift that may be a tool for survival.

Animals

Cone snail venom may trick mate-seeking worms into becoming meals

Cone snail venom contains worm pheromone mimics, suggesting the chemicals may be used to lure worms during hunting.

Animals

A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

Animals

A sea slug’s detached head can crawl around and grow a whole new body

Chopped-up planarians regrow whole bodies from bits and pieces. But a sea slug head can regrow fancier organs such as hearts.

Animals

Delve into the history of the fight for Earth’s endangered creatures

The new book ‘Beloved Beasts’ chronicles past conservation efforts as a movement and a science, and explores how to keep striding forward.

Animals

Female green tree frogs have noise-canceling lungs that help them hear mates

When inflated, female green tree frog lungs resonate in a way that reduces sensitivity to the sounds of other species.

Materials Science

This soft robot withstands crushing pressures at the ocean’s greatest depths

An autonomous robot that mimics the adaptations of deep-sea snailfish to extreme conditions was successfully tested at the bottom of the ocean.

Archaeology

An ancient dog fossil helps trace humans’ path into the Americas

Found in Alaska, the roughly 10,000-year-old bone bolsters the idea that early human settlers took a coastal rather than inland route.