Animals
- Paleontology
Oldest known avian relative of today’s birds found in China
Fossil find suggests modern birds’ oldest avian relative lived about 6 million years before previous record holder.
- Animals
Stretchy nerves help some big whales open wide
Blue whales and their closest relatives have stretchy nerves near their mouths so they can open wide and swallow a lot of prey.
- Animals
Lazy sunfish are actually active predators
Ocean sunfish were once thought to be drifting eaters of jellyfish. But they’re not, new research shows.
- Animals
Beetle’s toxic, explosive vapor explained
From a two-chambered gland in their rears, bombardier beetles unleash a toxic, blazing hot spray to defend themselves.
- Animals
Climate change revs up extinction risks
One in six species on the planet may face extinction if the global temperatures continue to rise.
- Animals
Rock-wielding monkeys make adjustments when cracking nuts
Videos show that monkeys carefully pound open nuts to avoid smashing kernels inside.
- Plants
Medfly control methods were ready for pest’s influx
50 years ago, researchers prepared to greet Mediterranean fruit flies with sterile males.
- Animals
Rare fossils expand evolutionary history of sperm whales
A pygmy fossil unearthed in Panama reveals that the organ the whales use to produce sound and echolocate shrunk over time.
- Animals
Woolly mammoth DNA shows toll of low diversity
A new sequencing analysis of two woolly mammoth genomes reveals evidence of genetic decline due to isolation and inbreeding just prior to extinction.
- Genetics
Mosquito bites might be foretold in genes
Attractiveness to mosquitoes could be inherited, twin study suggests.
- Animals
Bees may like neonicotinoids, but some may be harmed
Two high-profile tests raise worries that bees can’t avoid neonicotinoid pesticides and that wild species are at special risk.
- Animals
Only three wolves left on Michigan island
Without an infusion of new wolves, the Isle Royale wolf population, and the famous study associated with it, will die off.
