Animals
- Animals
Crickets and flies face off in a quiet evolutionary battle
Male crickets in Hawaii softened their chirps once parasitic flies started hunting them. Now, it seems, the flies are homing in on the new tunes.
- Animals
How fish biologists discovered birds of paradise have fluorescent feathers
A survey of museum specimens reveals that more than a dozen species of the birds sport biofluorescence in feathers, skin or even inside their throats.
- Animals
How a puffin patrol in Iceland is saving the iconic seabirds
Light pollution disorients young puffins. The Puffling Patrol helps them find their way to the sea.
- Life
The butts of these blowfly larvae mimic termite faces
The young of a mysterious blowfly species look — and smell — like the termites they hide among.
- Animals
How a mushroom coral goes for a walk without legs
Time-lapse video shows how a mushroom coral polyp pulses and inflates, flinging its soft body into micro-hops to slowly move itself to a new location.
- Animals
In a first, zebra cams reveal herds on the move with giraffes
Six zebras wore video cameras attached to collars, capturing the equines’ daily life. Sticking with giraffes may let the two species protect each other.
- Animals
Migrating whale sharks make pit stops at oil and gas rigs
Human-made structures act as artificial reefs, luring plankton and, in turn, Earth’s largest fish. That could put whale sharks at risk of ship strikes.
- Animals
A fungus named after Sir David Attenborough zombifies cave spiders
The new fungus species Gibellula attenboroughii forces reclusive cave spiders to exposed areas, likely to benefit spore dispersal.
- Animals
Cuttlefish ink may overwhelm sharks’ sense of smell
The main component of common cuttlefish ink — melanin — strongly sticks to shark smell sensors, possibly explaining why the predators avoid ink.
- Animals
This bird’s eye view of a shark hunt won a photo contest
A snapshot of blacktip reef sharks hunting hardyhead silverside fish won the 2024 Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition.
- Health & Medicine
A second version of bird flu is infecting cows. What does that mean?
While the risk to humans of exposure from cows or milk remains low, this new flu spillover from birds into cows raises the need for continued surveillance.
- Animals
How mantis shrimp deliver punishing blows without hurting themselves
A mantis shrimp's punch creates high-energy waves. Its exoskeleton is designed to absorb that energy, preventing cracking and tissue damage.
