1,425 results
1,425 results for: Whales
- Animals
Bad Bubbles: Could sonar give whales the bends?
Odd bubbles of fat and gas have turned up in the bodies of marine mammals, raising the question of whether something about human activity in the oceans could give these deep divers decompression sickness.
- Health & Medicine
Do Arctic diets protect prostates?
Marine diets appear to explain why the incidence of prostate cancer among Inuit men is lower than that of males anywhere else in the world.
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Whales of Distinction: Old specimens now declared a new species
Japanese researchers have named a new category of living baleen whales to explain puzzling specimens dating back to the 1970s.
- Genetics
Killer whales are (at least) two species
Orca genetics highlights distinctions among groups that feed on different prey.
- Animals
Antarctic waters may shelter wrecks from shipworms
Ocean currents and polar front form 'moat' that keeps destructive mollusks at bay.
- Life
Many genes in dolphins and bats evolved in the same way to allow echolocation
Widespread changes scattered across the genomes of distantly related species cooperated to craft the trait.
- Animals
Humpbacks make a comeback in British Columbia
Whale numbers double at a feeding site in Canada.
- 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? […]
- Ecosystems
Arctic melting may help parasites infect new hosts
Grey seals and beluga whales encounter killer microbes as ranges change.
- Paleontology
Fossil whale skull hints at echolocation’s origins
Ancestors of toothed whales used echolocation as early as 34 million years ago, analysis of a new fossil skull suggests.
- Humans
Letters from the December 23 & 30, 2006, issue of Science News
Playing dead is a lively topic I am amazed that “Why Play Dead?” (SN: 10/28/06, p. 280) concluded that “Scientists have a long way to go to explain why” prey animals play dead. As a veterinarian, I have learned that there are separate centers in the brain dealing with predatory behavior and with hunger. The […]
- Paleontology
Ancient oceans’ top predator was gentle filter feeder
New fossils suggest that a distant relative of lobsters used bristled limbs to net its prey, not spike it.
