Search Results for: Vertebrates
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1,544 results
1,544 results for: Vertebrates
- Animals
Not Your Ordinary Amphibians
They resemble mondo worms or perhaps eels and snakes. But caecilians (seh sil yenz) are actually legless amphibians, and along with deep sea fishes are among the least well known vertebrates on the planet. Some run to a meter or more in length. Although information on these elusive animals and photos of them are hard […]
- Life
Duckbill decoded
With a mix of reptilian, bird and mammalian features, the duck-billed platypus genome looks as strange as the animal.
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The decider
Informing the debate over the reality of ‘free will’ requires learning something about the lateral habenula.
- Animals
Hatch a Thief: Brains incline birds toward a life of crime
When it comes to a bird family's propensity to pilfer, a larger than usual brain for a particular body size is more important than body size alone.
- Life
How the snake got its fangs
A study of snake embryos suggests that fangs evolved once, then moved around in the head to give today’s snakes a variety of bites.
- Life
Bring out your dead cells
A protein called Six-Microns-Under turns certain fruit fly brain cells into undertakers to clear away dead neighbors.
- Health & Medicine
Bone Builder: Drug may offer steroid users new protection against fractures
A bone-growth medication called teriparatide outperforms the standard bone-preserving drug alendronate in people with steroid-induced osteoporosis.
- Agriculture
Fishy Data on Weed Killer
A popular weed killer can feminize wildlife by tinkering with a gene that indirectly affects the production of sex hormones.
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Reading the Repeats: Cells transcribe telomere DNA
Scientists have discovered that human cells make RNA transcripts of telomeres, the repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes, a finding that could have implications for understanding aging and cancer.
- Humans
Letters from the March 1, 2008, issue of Science News
Big evolvers Regarding “Whales Drink Sounds: Hearing may use an ancient path” (SN: 2/9/08, p. 84), I have heard that whales evolved millions of years ago into their present form, including their very large brains. We humans must be relatively recent in terms of our brain structures. Are there data concerning evolutionary development in whales? […]
- Archaeology
La Brea del Sur
Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California.
- Paleontology
Dinosaurs matured sexually while still growing
Distinctive bone tissue in fossils of several dinosaur species suggests that the ancient reptiles became sexually mature long before they gained adult size.
