Life

Paleontology

Early life forms had a modular structure

Fossils recently discovered in northeastern Newfoundland reveal that some of Earth's earliest large organisms had modular body plans whose main architectural element was a branching, frondlike structure.

Animals

Trail Mix: Espionage among the bees

Tests with two kinds of stingless bees suggest that the more aggressive species uses scent-based espionage to target raids on the milder species' food.

Ecosystems

Deep-Sea Cukes Can’t Avoid the Weather: El Niño changes life 2.5 miles down

A 14-year study of a spot 2.5 miles underwater off the California coast shows short-term links between surface events and an abundance of deep-water creatures.

Paleontology

Chipmunks in Wisconsin toughed out ice age

Analyses of DNA from chipmunks in parts of the U.S. Midwest hint that some populations of the creatures stayed in northern refuges rather than migrating south at the beginning of the last ice age.

Animals

A first for mammals: Tropical hibernating

The fat-tailed lemur, the first tropical mammal documented to hibernate, exploits local heat spikes to save energy during the long snooze.

Animals

Sparrows Cheat on Sleep: Migratory birds are up at night but still stay sharp

During their fall migration season, white-crowned sparrows sleep only about a third as much as they do at other times of the year without becoming slow-witted.

Paleontology

Neck Bones on the Menu: Fossil vertebrae show species interaction

Three fossil neck bones from an ancient flying reptile—one of them with the broken tip of a tooth embedded in it—indicate that the winged creatures occasionally fell victim to meat eaters.

Plants

Rewriting the Nitrogen Story: Plant cycles nutrient forward and backward

For the first time, a green plant has been found to break down nitrogen-containing compounds into the readily usable form of nitrates, a job usually done by microbes.

Animals

Ultrasound alarms by ground squirrels

Richardson's ground squirrels may occasionally use ultrasound when calling out in response to a disturbance.

Animals

Why does a buddy help another male flirt?

The sidekick male in the two-bird courtship display of lance-tailed manakins has to leave when the mating starts but may reap delayed benefits in real estate and performance practice.

Animals

Farmer ant species may have lost all its males

A fungus-growing ant may be the first ant species known to have no power of sexual reproduction.

Animals

Jumping spiders buzz, thump when dancing

Some jumping spiders, long considered visually oriented animals, turn out to utilize seismic communication for a successful courtship.