Life
-
Animals
New candidates for smallest vertebrate
Two recent scientific papers have described fish species that could, depending on the definition, be the world's smallest known vertebrate.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Eggs Scramble: Fungi trick termites into babysitting
A fungus may be taking advantage of hardworking termite nursemaids by tricking them into tending egg-shaped fungal reproductive bodies along with real termite eggs.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Just Duet
Two or more birds in some species can sing with such coordination that a human listener would swear that it's just one singer. With audio files.
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
First Steps
Using materials as diverse as lobster eggs, dead birds, and the headless carcass of a rhinoceros, scientists are conducting experiments that scrutinize the first steps of the fossilization process.
By Sid Perkins -
Ecosystems
Life Underfoot: Microbial biodiversity takes surprising twist
When it comes to numbers of bacterial species, rainforest dirt is virtually a desert, but desert dirt bursts with biodiversity.
-
Animals
Little Professor: Ants rank as first true animal teachers
The best evidence so far of true teaching in a nonhuman animal comes from ants. With video.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
First maternal care filmed in squid
At least one squid species turns out to be a caring mom after all, say researchers who filmed the creatures using remote-control cameras positioned deep in the Pacific Ocean. With Video.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
The Trouble with Chasing a Bee
Radar has long been able to detect high-flying clouds of insects, but it's taken much longer for scientists to figure out how to track your average bee.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Locust Upset: DNA puts swarmer’s origin in Africa
The desert locust was not an ancient export from the Americas, according to a new DNA analysis.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Ant Iron Chefs: Larvae fix dinner but don’t sneak snacks
Movies of an ant colony show that larvae are the ones that prepare dinner when meat is on the menu. With Video.
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
Mammoth Findings: Asian elephant is closest living kin
DNA studies suggest that the woolly mammoth is more closely related to the Asian elephant than to the African elephant.
By Sid Perkins -
Ecosystems
Squirt Alert
A sea animal of unknown origins and lacking any known predator has begun commandeering ecosystems in cool coastal waters throughout the world.
By Janet Raloff