All Stories by Jake Buehler
- Life
Comb jellies have a bizarre nervous system unlike any other animal
A 3-D map of the comb jelly “nerve net” reveals fused neurons that lack the space, or synapses, most neurons use to communicate. Did it evolve independently?
- Life
T. rex may have had lips like a modern lizard’s
Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed as lipless, but new research suggests this wasn’t so.
- Animals
Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers
Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.
- Animals
The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp
When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.
- Life
Mammals that live in groups may live longer, longevity research suggests
An analysis of nearly 1,000 mammal species reveals that the evolution of mammals’ social lives and life spans could be linked.
- Life
Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction
For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.
- Animals
Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl
Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.
- Animals
Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong
Snakes were long thought to be the only reptile group to lack clitorises. But new findings suggest the sex organs are present after all.
- Paleontology
Armored dinos may have used their tail clubs to bludgeon each other
Broken and healed spikes on Zuul's flanks are consistent with the armored beast receiving a mighty blow from the tail club of another ankylosaur.
- Life
A parasite makes wolves more likely to become pack leaders
In Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves infected with Toxoplasma gondii make riskier decisions, making them more likely to split off from the pack.
- Animals
Long considered loners, many marsupials may have complex social lives
Some marsupials may be more sociable than previously thought, opening the door to a possible deep legacy of social organization systems in mammals
- Oceans
Sharks face rising odds of extinction even as other big fish populations recover
Over the last 70 years, large ocean fishes like tuna and marlin have been recovering from overfishing. But sharks continue to decline toward extinction.
