Animals

  1. Genetics

    What gene makes orange cats orange? Scientists figured it out

    Researchers found the gene and genetic variation behind orange fur in most domestic cats, solving a decades-long mystery.

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  2. Paleontology

    This exquisite Archaeopteryx fossil reveals how flight took off in birds

    Analyses unveiled never-before-seen feathers and bones from the first known bird, strengthening the case that Archaeopteryx could fly.

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  3. Animals

    Wild chimpanzees give first aid to each other

    A study in Uganda shows how often chimps use medicinal plants and other forms of health care — and what that says about the roots of human medicine.

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  4. Animals

    This tool-wielding assassin turns its prey’s defenses into a trap

    This assassin bug's ability to use a tool — bees’ resin — could shed light on how the ability evolved in other animals.

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  5. Animals

    Chimp chatter is a lot more like human language than previously thought

    Chimpanzees combine hoots, calls and grunts to convey far more concepts than with single sounds alone. It may be a first among nonhuman animals.

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  6. Animals

    Ancient poems document the decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise

    The porpoise is critically endangered. Ancient Chinese poems reveal the animal’s range has dropped about 65 percent over the past 1,400 years.

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  7. Animals

    Frog ribbits erupt via an extravagant variety of vocal sacs

    Shape matters as well as size in the great range of male frog show-off equipment for competitive seductive serenades.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    A man let snakes bite him 202 times. His blood helped create a new antivenom

    A new antivenom relies on antibodies from the blood of Tim Friede, who immunized himself against snakebites by injecting increasing doses of venom into his body.

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  9. Animals

    Cool water could protect sea stars from a mysterious disease

    Sunflower sea stars discovered taking refuge in fjords may offer clues to saving the critically endangered species from sea star wasting disease.

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  10. Animals

    The axolotl is endangered in the wild. A discovery offers hope

    Introducing captive-bred axolotls to restored and artificial wetlands may be a promising option for the popular pet amphibian.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Bird flu in cows shows no signs of adapting to humans — yet

    Easy replication in cattle mammary glands means H5N1 bird flu is under no evolutionary pressure to adapt to spread easily in humans.

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  12. Animals

    This caterpillar wears the body parts of insect prey

    Dubbed the “bone collector,” this caterpillar found on a Hawaiian island disguises itself while stalking spider webs for trapped insects to eat.

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