Search Results for: Vertebrates
- Science & Society
Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species
An analysis of nearly 47,000 vertebrate animal species reveals that using them for food, medicine or the pet trade is helping push some toward extinction.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Newly identified stem cells can lure breast cancer to the spine
A new type of stem cell discovered in mice and humans might explain why cancer that spreads to other body parts preferentially targets the spine.
By Meghan Rosen - Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists suspected that lost sense of smell could be restored
Cells responsible for humans’ sense of smell can regenerate. Now, research spurred on by the pandemic could help answer questions about the process.
By Aina Abell - Paleontology
Dinosaur feathers may have been more birdlike than previously thought
Feather proteins can change during fossilization, raising questions about what dinosaur feathers really can tell us about feather evolution.
- Animals
Static electricity can pull ticks on to their hosts
Ticks brought near objects with a static charge frequently get pulled to those surfaces, a new study finds, suggesting one way the bugs find hosts.
By Soumya Sagar - Paleontology
Newfound bat skeletons are the oldest on record
The newly identified species Icaronycteris gunnelli lived about 52.5 million years ago in what is now Wyoming and looked a lot like modern bats.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Newfound fossil species of lamprey were flesh eaters
In China, paleontologists have unearthed fossils of two surprisingly large lamprey species from the Jurassic Period.
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Scientific meetings — it’s nice to see you again
Executive editor Elizabeth Quill discusses the importance of covering scientific meetings.
- Life
Crabs left the sea not once, but several times, in their evolution
A new study is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the evolution of “true crabs.”
By Amanda Heidt -
New discoveries are bringing the world of pterosaurs to life
The latest clues hint at where pterosaurs — the first vertebrates to fly — came from, how they evolved, what they ate and more.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Ancient fish fossils highlight the strangeness of our vertebrate ancestors
New fossils are revealing the earliest jawed vertebrates — a group that encompasses 99 percent of all living vertebrates on Earth, including humans.
- Animals
A global report finds amphibians are still in peril. But it’s not all bad news
A survey of about 8,000 amphibian species provides the latest update on extinction risk trends stretching back to 1980.
By Anna Gibbs