Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Plants
Cretaceous Corsages? Fossil in amber suggests antiquity of orchids
Orchids appeared on the scene about 80 million years ago, according to evidence from a bee that collected orchid pollen and got trapped in amber.
- Animals
Bats hum for sugar too
Some nectar-feeding bats metabolize sugars as rapidly as hummingbirds do.
- Animals
High Volume, Low Fidelity: Birds are less faithful as sounds blare
In noisy surroundings, normally faithful female zebra finches flirt with unfamiliar males.
- Animals
Tail singers
The male Anna's hummingbird impresses females and intimidates other males by making a whipping sound with its tail feathers.
- Animals
Worm Lovelies
Polyclad flatworms are soft, juicy, and delicate coral-reef dwellers. To avoid predation, many have evolved brilliantly hued coloration. It’s a trait that often signals a critter is toxic, as many of these worms indeed are. Alas, their bright skins are likely not well appreciated by members of their own species, owing to very poor eyesight. […]
- Animals
What’s so great about ‘chuck’?
A particular flourish in a male frog's call attracts extra interest from predators as well as female frogs, and researchers now have an idea why.
- Animals
Badly matched birds make troubled parents
Cockatiel pairs that don't cooperate well have trouble raising their chicks.
- Animals
Ferrets Gone Wild: Reintroduced animals coming back in Wyoming
A Wyoming population of endangered black-footed ferrets, started from captive-bred animals, has survived difficulties and is doing well.
- Animals
Gender bender
Disabling a chemical-sniffing organ crucial for courting behavior makes girl mice act like frisky boys.
- Ecosystems
Biota Behaving Badly
Members of an established ecosystem develop a sense of balance, usually permitting at least limited biodiversity and a stable structure. When interlopers arrive that aren’t responsive to the same environmental checks and balances, they can overrun the ecosystem, eliminating some members and quickly dominating others. Such bullying immigrants are known as invasive species—and they can […]
- Paleontology
Dinosaurs’ gradual rise to dominance
Early dinosaurs didn't quickly eclipse the creatures they evolved from, but lived alongside them for perhaps 20 million years.
- Ecosystems
Bee All
With continuing concerns about the decline of honeybees in North America—and especially the newly recognized Colony Collapse Disorder—here’s a site to learn more about the important role these and other bees play in plant health and agriculture. This academic site links to plenty of related places on the Web that also address threats to not […]
