Animals

  1. Animals

    Winged robots may shed light on fly aerobatics

    After years of trying, researchers create flapping machines that can hover and perform rudimentary flight maneuvers.

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  2. Animals

    Evolutionary enigmas

    Comb jelly genetics suggest a radical redrawing of the tree of life.

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  3. Animals

    Deep-sea worms drop acid to get dinner

    Bone-eating worms produce chemicals to dissolve and feed on skeletons.

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  4. Animals

    Fossil illuminates ancestry of swifts and hummingbirds

    Spectacularly preserved remains suggest that the two avian groups' predecessors got small before splitting and developing their flying chops.

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  5. Animals

    A Different Kind of Smart

    Animals’ cognitive shortcomings are as revealing as their genius.

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  6. Animals

    Termites, not fairies, cause plant circles in African deserts

    Underground insect engineers create water traps in the soil, allowing rings of green grasses in the sand.

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  7. Animals

    Native pollinators boost crop yields worldwide

    Farms with crops from coffee to mangoes don’t get the best yields if they rely solely on honeybees.

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  8. Animals

    How weaver ants get a grip

    Strong sticking power and quick reaction time help the insects stay put in trees.

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  9. Animals

    Sea slug carries disposable penis, plus spares

    A hermaphroditic gastropod sheds its penis after one use, then uncoils another.

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  10. Animals

    Compared with rodents, bat species carry more viruses

    Viruses that can jump from animals to people may find the flying mammals a fine place to lurk.

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  11. Animals

    Mole sniffs the world in stereo

    Nostrils of the common mole recognize slight differences in smells to steer it toward its food.

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  12. Animals

    Cats kill more than one billion birds each year

    New analysis doubles estimate of avian death tolls, revealing that hunting felines take bigger bite out of wildlife than expected.

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