Animals
- Life
How bearded dragons switch their sex
RNA editing might affect reptile sex determination at temperature extremes.
- Life
Ancient DNA shakes up the elephant family tree
DNA from straight-tusked elephant fossils is forcing scientists to reconsider the history of elephant evolution.
- Life
Ladybugs fold their wings like origami masters
Ladybug wings could lead to new foldable technologies.
- Paleontology
Primitive whales had mediocre hearing
Fossils suggest that early whale hearing was run-of-the-mill, along the same line as that of land mammals.
- Animals
Big slimy lips are the secret to this fish’s coral diet
A new imaging study reveals how tubelip wrasses manage to munch on stinging corals.
- Animals
Sooty terns’ migration takes the birds into the path of hurricanes
Sooty terns migrate south from southern Florida and back again. The track sometimes takes the birds into the path of hurricanes, a new study finds.
- Paleontology
Sea scorpions slashed victims with swordlike tails
Ancient sea scorpion used a flexible, swordlike tail to hack at prey and defend against predators.
- Animals
Petite parrots provide insight into early flight
High-speed video shows that tiny parrots direct their hops to use the least amount of energy necessary.
- Life
How a flamingo balances on one leg
Flamingos’ built-in tricks for balance might have a thing or two to teach standing robots or prosthesis makers someday.
- Animals
Orangutans take motherhood to extremes, nursing young for more than eight years
Weaning in orangutans has been tricky to see in the wild, so researchers turned to dental tests to reveal long nursing period.
- Climate
Higher temperatures could trigger an uptick in damselfly cannibalism
Experiments in the lab suggest that increases in temperature could indirectly lead to an increase in cannibalistic damselfly nymphs.
- Animals
Blennies have a lot of fang for such little fishes
Unlike snakes, blennies evolved fangs before venom, through probably not because of any need to hunt big prey.
