Animals
- Paleontology
This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant
The giant, extinct marsupial Diprotodon optatum migrated seasonally, the first marsupial shown to do so.
- Paleontology
This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant
A new analysis suggests that Diprotodon optatum, a giant plant-eating marsupial that went extinct about 40,000 years ago, migrated long distances, much like today’s zebras and wildebeests.
- Animals
To test sleep, researchers don’t let sleeping jellyfish lie
Upside-down jellyfish are the first known animals without a brain to enter a sleeplike state.
- Health & Medicine
From day one, a frog’s developing brain is calling the shots
Frog brains help organize muscle and nerve patterns early in development.
- Environment
The way poison frogs keep from poisoning themselves is complicated
Gaining resistance to one of their own toxins forced some poison dart frogs to make other genetic tweaks, too.
- Paleontology
Shhhh! Some plant-eating dinos snacked on crunchy critters
Scientists studying dinosaur poop found that some duck-billed dinos cheated on their vegetarian diets by snacking on crustaceans.
- Animals
This newfound hermit crab finds shelter in corals, not shells
A newly discovered hermit crab takes its cue from peanut worms and uses walking corals as a permanent shelter.
- Tech
Nature offers inspiration, and occasionally courage
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill discusses how nature can inspire people to make long-lasting change.
- Animals
Bat brain signals illuminate navigation in the dark
New lab technologies that let bats fly freely allow scientists to track nerve cell signals as the animals dodge and weave.
- Animals
How bats could help tomato farmers (and the U.S. Navy)
The way bats navigate their environs inspires engineers to develop better sonar and robots that can estimate crop yield or deliver packages
- Animals
Old barn owls aren’t hard of hearing
A new study suggests that older barn owls hear just as well as younger ones.
- Animals
3-D scans of fossils suggest new fish family tree
Analysis of specimens from China implies ray-finned fishes evolved later than previously thought.
