It's Alive

  1. morpho dragonfly
    Animals

    The blue wings of this dragonfly may be surprisingly alive

    The wings of adult morpho dragonflies show tiny respiratory channels that may support a complex of nanostructures that shine blue.

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  2. Meiacanthus grammistes
    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.

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  3. polka dot frog
    Animals

    First fluorescent frogs might see each others’ glow

    A polka dot frog, the first known fluorescent amphibian, may get a visibility boost in twilight and moonlight.

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  4. Euderus set wasp
    Animals

    How one enslaving wasp eats through another

    A wasp that forces oaks to grow a gall gets tricked into digging an escape tunnel for its killers.

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  5. Birgus latro
    Animals

    Coconut crab pinches like a lion, eats like a dumpster diver

    Coconut crabs use their surprisingly powerful claw for more than cracking coconuts.

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  6. California pitcher plant
    Plants

    Meat-eating pitcher plants raise deathtraps to an art

    The carnivorous California pitcher plant ensnares its dinner using a medley of techniques.

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  7. short-beaked echidna
    Animals

    An echidna’s to-do list: Sleep. Eat. Dig up Australia.

    Short-beaked echidna’s to-do list looks good for a continent losing other digging mammals.

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  8. Midshipman fish
    Animals

    Melatonin makes midshipman fish sing

    Melatonin lets people sleep but starts male midshipman fish melodiously humming their hearts out.

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  9. giant bird's nest
    Animals

    Extreme bird nests bring comforts and catastrophe

    Extreme bird nests of Southern Africa’s weaverbirds offer condo living in tough temperatures.

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  10. fat-tailed dwarf lemurs
    Animals

    Dwarf lemurs don’t agree on sleep

    Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs’ surprising hibernation-sleep doesn’t show up in ground-hibernating relatives.

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  11. Cuscuta reflexa
    Plants

    How a tomato plant foils a dreaded vampire vine

    Tomatoes can foil a dodder plant attack by getting scared and scabbing over.

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  12. P. prehensicauda
    Animals

    These lizards bleed green

    Blood and bones turn naturally green in island lizards. Their evolutionary history still needs explaining.

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