Animals

Animals

DNA from old hair helps confirm the macabre diet of two 19th century lions

Genetic analysis of cavity crud from two famed man-eating lions suggests the method could re-create diets of predators that lived thousands of years ago.

Paleontology

The largest arthropod to ever live finally has a head 

Fossils of an extinct giant millipede reveal new details about the arthropod’s anatomy.

Animals

To tell a right-trunked elephant from a lefty, check the wrinkles

Elephant trunks, more sci-fi face-tentacle than ho-hum mammal nose, are getting new scrutiny as researchers explore how the wrinkles grow.

Animals

These sea creatures can fuse their bodies

A species of comb jelly can fuse its body with another jelly after injury. Some of the pair’s body functions then synchronize.

Animals

Some tadpoles don’t poop for weeks. That keeps their pools clean

Eiffinger’s tree frog babies store their solid waste in an intestinal pouch, releasing less ammonia into their watery cribs than other frog species.

Animals

Dolphins’ open-mouth behaviors during play are like smiles, a study claims

Experts urge caution in calling bottlenosed dolphins’ gesture a humanlike “smile,” but agree it seems to be important for how the animals communicate.

Animals

Coyotes have the face muscles for that ‘sad-puppy’ look

The ability to make heart-melting stares may not be the fruit of dog domestication if their still-wild cousins have the power to do it too.

Animals

Bird nests made with a toxic fungus seem to fend off attacking ants

Two species of birds in Costa Rica build nests in trees defended by ants. Ants that encounter the horsehair fungus in the nests develop odd behaviors.

Animals

‘Night Magic’ invites you to celebrate the living wonders of the dark

In the book ‘Night Magic,’ Leigh Ann Henion writes of encounters with salamanders, bats, glowworms and other life-forms nurtured by darkness.

Animals

This fish has legs — and it uses them for more than just walking

Some sea robins have taste buds on their six crablike legs that help the fish ferret out prey buried in sand as they walk.

Animals

Scientists have just turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells

If the pluripotent stem cells can be turned into precursors to egg and sperm cells, the feat could potentially be a big deal for giant panda conservation.

Animals

Ants changed the architecture of their nests when exposed to a pathogen

Black garden ants made tweaks to entrances, tunnels and chambers that may help prevent diseases from spreading.