Animals
- Genetics
Birds get their internal compass from this newly ID’d eye protein
Birds can sense magnetic fields, thanks to internal compasses that likely rely on changes to proteins in the retina.
- Animals
How honeybees’ royal jelly might be baby glue, too
A last-minute pH shift thickens royal jelly enough to stick queen larvae to the ceiling of hive cells.
- Animals
The truth about animals isn’t always pretty
The Truth About Animals digs up surprising stories about sloths, pandas, penguins and other wildly misunderstood wildlife.
- Animals
Toxins from the world’s longest animal can kill cockroaches
Bootlace worms can stretch up to 55 meters long and ooze toxins that can kill cockroaches and green crabs.
- Animals
Some frogs may be bouncing back after killer chytrid fungus
Frogs in Panama may be developing defenses against a fatal skin disease, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Humpback whale bumps have marine biologists stumped
Christine Gabriele is taking tissue samples from humpback whales in Hawaii to determine why more and more have nodular dermatitis.
- Ecosystems
50 years ago, invasive species traveled the Suez Canal
Hundreds of Red Sea species used the Suez Canal to migrate to the Mediterranean Sea, leading to the decline of some native species.
- Life
Earwigs take origami to extremes to fold their wings
Stretchy joints let earwig wings flip quickly between folded and unfurled.
- Animals
How oral vaccines could save Ethiopian wolves from extinction
A mass oral vaccination program in Ethiopian wolves could pave the way for other endangered species and help humans, too.
- Animals
Dino-bird had wings made for flapping, not just gliding
Archaeopteryx fossils suggest the dino-birds were capable of flapping their wings in flight.
- Neuroscience
Readers muse about memory, magnetic monopoles and more
Readers had questions about the physical trace of memory, magnetic monopoles, blowflies and more.
- Animals
This baby bird fossil gives a rare look at ancient avian development
A 127-million-year-old fossil of a baby bird suggests diversity in how a group of extinct birds grew.
