Animals

Ecosystems

Like flyways for birds, we need to map swimways for fish

Mapping fish migration routes and identifying threats is crucial to protecting freshwater species and their habitats, ecologists argue.

Animals

Cricket frogs belly flop their way across water

Cricket frogs were once thought to hop on the water’s surface. They actually leap in and out of the water in a form of locomotion called porpoising.

Animals

Fever’s link with a key kind of immunity is surprisingly ancient

When sick, Nile tilapia seek warmer water. That behavioral fever triggers a specialized immune response, hinting the connection evolved long ago.

Animals

Mole or marsupial? This subterranean critter with a backward pouch is both

Genetic analyses have solved the riddle of where a marsupial mole fits on the tree of life: It’s a cousin to bilbies, bandicoots and Tasmanian devils.

Animals

In chimpanzees, peeing is contagious

The first study of copycat urination in an animal documents how one chimpanzee peeing prompts others to follow suit. Now researchers are exploring why.

Animals

Hand-feeding squirrels accidentally changed their skulls

When fed peanuts, red squirrels in Britain developed weaker bites — showing that food supplements to threatened animals could have unintended side effects.

Animals

More new geckos have been found hiding in Southeast Asia’s limestone towers 

Nearly 200 new gecko species found in living in karst landscapes reveal the rugged regions as dynamic areas of speciation.

Animals

Poop is on the menu for a surprising number of animals

A new tally finds dozens of species giving food a second go-round, from babies boosting their microbiomes to adults seeking easier-to-access nutrition.

Animals

‘Forever chemicals’ are causing health problems in some wildlife

Deformed scales in hatchlings and biomarkers indicative of disease progression are two health impacts on turtles at PFAS-polluted sites in Australia.

Animals

Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms

A velvet ant bite like “hot oil from the deep fryer” delivers an array of peptides that inflicts pain on insects and mammals alike.

Animals

American burying beetles are making a comeback in Nebraska

Thanks to decades of conservation to restore private grasslands, numbers of the threatened insect are on the rise in the Loess Canyons.

Health & Medicine

Dogs team up with AI to sniff out cancer

Scientists paired Labrador retrievers with an AI model in a new screening test for breast, lung, colorectal or prostate cancer.