Animals
- Paleontology
Early animals dethroned
Cell division patterns in controversial Chinese fossils place them outside the animal kingdom.
- Animals
Lost to history: The “churk”
More than a half-century ago, researchers at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center outside Washington, D.C., engaged in some creative barnyard breeding. Their goal was the development of fatherless turkeys — virgin hens that would reproduce via parthenogenesis. Along the way, and ostensibly quite by accident, an interim stage of this work resulted in a rooster-fathered hybrid that the scientists termed a churk.
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- Animals
Chimp has an ear for talk
Human-raised Panzee challenges the notion that only people can discern acoustically altered words.
- Animals
Lionfish no match for big groupers
Despite its invasive success, the lionfish can't withstand grouper appetites.
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- Animals
Chimps wear personalities on their mugs
Humans can assess the dominance of their close evolutionary relatives by glancing at the apes’ expressionless faces.
- Animals
Female chimps play with ‘dolls’
Youngsters mimic mothering by cradling sticks, reigniting debate over sex differences in toy choices.
- Animals
Island orangs descend from small group
Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck when isolated during an ancient glaciation.
- Animals
DEET of the sea
Before turning in for the night, some reef-dwelling fish apply a slimy mucus shield to deter biting bugs.
- Animals
Cats drink using lap-and-gulp trick
Felines imbibe by pulling up a column of fluid and then snatching a bit of it before it splashes back down.
- Animals
Acidification may halve coral class of 2050
Already shown to be a threat to established reefs, experiments show that changing ocean chemistry also threatens the establishment and survival of larvae.
