Animals
Homing pigeons may use a surprising navigation mechanism
How animals navigate by Earth's magnetic field is hotly debated. New research in pigeons points to iron-laden liver immune cells as the compass.
Animals
More Stories in Animals
- Animals
AI-powered whale-spotting tech may help save San Francisco Bay’s gray whales
An AI trained to use thermal images to detect whale body heat could help warn ships at risk of colliding with the marine mammals.
- Animals
Meet ‘Snuffleupagus,’ a newfound fish sporting shaggy camouflage
Found near Australia, Solenostomus snuffleupagus is a shaggy swimmer that closely resembles Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.
- Animals
Crabs’ sideways walk may have evolved just once
A study of 50 crab species in Japan traces the iconic sideways walk to a single ancestor, suggesting the trait drove the group's remarkable diversity.
- Animals
Female rats like a different kind of tickling than males
Female rats prefer gentler tickling, a finding that could reshape animal happiness research.
- Health & Medicine
Hantavirus questions grow in the wake of a cruise ship outbreak
Scientists still don’t know why Andes hantavirus is the only one shown to spread from person to person.
- Animals
Territorial conflict may explain male primates’ large size
Male primates may be larger than females partly because of pressure from rival groups, not just competition with males inside their own group.
- Paleontology
If wings came before flight, what were they for?
Scientists use simulated dinosaurs to trigger real insect brains and test how wings originally evolved.
- Archaeology
Neandertals used rhinoceros teeth as tools
Finds at sites in Spain and France suggest that Neandertals used the teeth of ancient rhinos for heavy-duty fabrication.
- Animals
Singing mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs
To serenade with their high-pitched songs, singing mice inflate a throat sac — a use for air sacs seemingly unknown in any other animal.
