Animals

  1. Animals

    These are our favorite animal stories of 2023

    Spiders that make prey walk the plank, self-aware fish and a pouty T. rex are among the critters that enchanted the Science News staff.

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  2. Animals

    Here’s how spiders that go overboard use light to find land

    When elongate stilt spiders fall into water, they head for areas that don’t reflect light in the hope of finding dry land, experiments suggest.

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  3. Animals

    Here are 5 questions about the mystery dog illness making news

    Experts suspect a perfect storm of conditions, rather than a new bug, is what’s driving “atypical kennel cough” cases in dogs across the United States.

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  4. Animals

    When do cats play fetch? When they feel like it 

    Most cats that play fetch picked it up on their own, a study of cat owners suggests. The felines tend to dictate when a fetching session begins and ends.

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  5. Animals

    A new species of hedgehog stands out for its short spikes

    At first, the eastern forest hedgehog was mistaken for its cousin. Dental and DNA analyses eventually confirmed the critter is a species new to science.

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  6. Animals

    Why do some lizards and snakes have horns?

    These reptiles’ horns can be an asset or a liability. A new study looks at the evolutionary roots of this wild headgear.

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  7. Animals

    Fish beware: Bottlenosed dolphins may be able to pick up your heartbeat

    Fish, sharks and platypuses are adept at sensing electrical signals living things give off. Bottlenosed dolphins make that list too, studies suggests.

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  8. Animals

    These nesting penguins nod off over 10,000 times a day, for seconds at a time

    Micronaps net chinstrap penguins over 11 hours of sleep a day, offering some rest while staying vigilant against predators and competitors.

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  9. Animals

    This bird hasn’t been seen in 38 years. Its song may help track it down

    Using bioacoustics, South American scientists are eavesdropping on a forest in hopes of hearing the song of the long-missing purple-winged ground dove.

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  10. Animals

    One mountain in Brazil is home to a surprising number of these parasitic wasps

    Darwin wasps were thought to prefer temperate areas. But researchers scoured a mountain in the Brazilian tropics and found nearly a hundred species.

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  11. Life

    Some picky Australian mosquitoes may target frog nostrils for blood

    The insects seem to sip from nowhere else on frogs’ bodies. Thinner skin or denser blood vessels near the nostrils might explain why.

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  12. Animals

    These bats are the only mammals known to mate more like birds

    Male serotine bats have penises too large for penetration. To mate, the animals rub their genitals against each other, somewhat like birds’ cloacal kiss.

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