Gory Details Animals

Animals were the original twerkers

black widow spider female and male

A male black widow spider (right) shakes its rear to alert a female to its presence.

Sean McCann/Simon Fraser Univ.

By Erika Engelhaupt

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Animals

  1. scores of small silver fish swimming
    Animals

    Tiny crystals give a plain fish twinkling, colorful dots under light

    By Susan Milius
  2. lion yawning
    Life

    Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements

    By Jake Buehler
  3. male fairy wrasse fish
    Life

    Flamboyant fishes evolved an explosion of color as seas rose and fell

    By Jake Buehler
  4. piles of grasshoppers on a sidewalk
    Animals

    Weather radar shows 30 metric tons of grasshoppers swarmed Las Vegas one night

    By Susan Milius
  5. a collage of deep sea fish larvae
    Animals

    Dazzling underwater photos capture new views and scientific detail of fish larvae

    By Devin A. Reese
  6. two bald eagles in a tree
    Animals

    A toxin behind mysterious eagle die-offs may have finally been found

    By Susan Milius
  7. rabbit standing on front paws
    Animals

    A gene defect may make rabbits do handstands instead of hop

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  8. a sleeping octopus
    Animals

    Octopus sleep includes a frenzied, colorful, ‘active’ stage

    By Laura Sanders

From the Nature Index

Paid Content