Life
- Paleontology
Dear Mummy: Rare fossil reveals common dinosaur’s soft tissue
A mummified dinosaur unearthed in Montana a year ago is giving scientists a rare peek at what the creature's muscles and other soft tissues may have looked like.
- Plants
Drought-tolerant plant mined for survival genes
A drought-resistant South African plant is revealing its genetic secrets.
- Animals
That special wax lasts after courtship
Sandpipers' special wax for their wings during the breeding season may have less to do with courting a mate and more to do with sitting on eggs.
- Animals
The truth is, frogs bluff and crabs cheat
Two research teams say they've caught wild animals bluffing, only the second and third examples (outside of primate antics) ever recorded.
- Paleontology
Telltale Dino Heart Hints at Warm Blood
A recently discovered fossil dinosaur heart is more like the heart of birds and mammals than that of crocodiles, providing further evidence that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded.
- Ecosystems
New protection for much-dogged shark
To rebuild northeastern U.S. populations of the spiny dogfish, the first fishing quotas on this species limit the harvest to roughly 10 percent of the 1998 haul.
- Animals
Music without Borders
When birds trill and whales woo-oo, we call it singing. Are we serious?
- Paleontology
Trilobites to Go
Extinct even before dinosaurs existed on Earth but extensively preserved in the fossil record, the eight orders of trilobites (more than 15,000 species) live on via this large, informative Web site, created by zoologist and amateur trilobite enthusiast Sam Gon III. The site provides a gallery of images, a glossary of terms, and much more. […]
- Paleontology
Dinosaurs, party of six, meat eating
The bones of six carnivorous dinosaurs discovered in a fossil bed in Patagonia may indicate that big, meat-eating dinosaurs were social creatures.
- Paleontology
Fossil gets a leg up on snake family tree
A 95-million-year-old fossil snake with legs may be an advanced big-mouthed snake, not a primitive ancestor.
- Ecosystems
State of U.S. Agro-ecosystems
About one-quarter of the United States’ land cover, excluding Alaska, is farmed–some 430 million to 500 million acres. A massive new project has just assessed this and other food-producing environments, such as coastal waters, fresh waters, and rangelands, to tally factors contributing to health. Released on Sept. 24, it indicates that most ecosystems are undergoing […]
- Plants
Underground Hijinks: Thieving plants hack into biggest fungal network
For the first time, plants have been caught tapping into the most widespread of soil fungi networks and using it to steal food from green plants.
