Animals

Animals

Fire ants build little syphons out of sand to feed without drowning

To escape a watery death, some fire ants use build sand structures that draw the insects’ sugary, liquid food out of containers and to a safer place.

Animals

A rope bridge restored a highway through the trees for endangered gibbons

When critically endangered Hainan gibbons started making dangerous leaps across a new gully, researchers came up with an alternative route.

Animals

Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light

Tardigrades have a newly discovered trick up their sleeve: fluorescence.

Animals

Pufferfish may be carving mysterious ‘crop circles’ near Australia

In 2011, scientists discovered that tiny pufferfish were sculpting Japan’s underwater “mystery circles.” Now, more circles have emerged in Australia.

Animals

This rare bird is male on one side and female on the other

Researchers at Powdermill Nature Reserve near Pittsburgh spotted a bird with pink male coloring on half of its body and yellow female hues on the other.

Neuroscience

Your dog’s brain doesn’t care about your face

Comparing brain scans of people and pups shows that faces hold no special meaning to the brains of dogs, a new study suggests.

Paleontology

Cannibalism in the womb may have helped megalodon sharks become giants

The ancient sea terror Otodus megalodon may have grown to at least 14 meters long thanks to a firstborn pup’s predatory behavior, some researchers say.

Animals

This snake rips a hole in living toads’ stomachs to feast on their organs

A particularly gruesome way to kill may help small-banded kukri snakes avoid toxins secreted from the neck and backs of some toads.

Life

A new map shows where Asian giant hornets could thrive in the U.S.

Suitable habitat along the Pacific West Coast means so-called “murder hornets” could get a foothold in North America if they aren’t eradicated.

Life

Before migrating, some blue whales switch up the timing of their songs

Pacific blue whales change the daily timing of their songs ahead of migration, helping scientists better anticipate these massive animals’ movements.

Animals

A beaked whale’s nearly four-hour-long dive sets a new record

The animals may rely on large stores of oxygen, a slow metabolism and the ability to tolerate lactic acid to go for hours without surfacing for air.

Animals

A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm

Giant sperm preserved in an ancient ostracod may be the oldest known sperm fossil, showing that giant sperm have existed at least 100 million years.