Life

Animals

Tail singers

The male Anna's hummingbird impresses females and intimidates other males by making a whipping sound with its tail feathers.

Animals

Worm Lovelies

Polyclad flatworms are soft, juicy, and delicate coral-reef dwellers. To avoid predation, many have evolved brilliantly hued coloration. It’s a trait that often signals a critter is toxic, as many of these worms indeed are. Alas, their bright skins are likely not well appreciated by members of their own species, owing to very poor eyesight. […]

Animals

What’s so great about ‘chuck’?

A particular flourish in a male frog's call attracts extra interest from predators as well as female frogs, and researchers now have an idea why.

Animals

Badly matched birds make troubled parents

Cockatiel pairs that don't cooperate well have trouble raising their chicks.

Animals

Ferrets Gone Wild: Reintroduced animals coming back in Wyoming

A Wyoming population of endangered black-footed ferrets, started from captive-bred animals, has survived difficulties and is doing well.

Animals

Gender bender

Disabling a chemical-sniffing organ crucial for courting behavior makes girl mice act like frisky boys.

Ecosystems

Biota Behaving Badly

Members of an established ecosystem develop a sense of balance, usually permitting at least limited biodiversity and a stable structure. When interlopers arrive that aren’t responsive to the same environmental checks and balances, they can overrun the ecosystem, eliminating some members and quickly dominating others. Such bullying immigrants are known as invasive species—and they can […]

Paleontology

Dinosaurs’ gradual rise to dominance

Early dinosaurs didn't quickly eclipse the creatures they evolved from, but lived alongside them for perhaps 20 million years.

Ecosystems

Bee All

With continuing concerns about the decline of honeybees in North America—and especially the newly recognized Colony Collapse Disorder—here’s a site to learn more about the important role these and other bees play in plant health and agriculture. This academic site links to plenty of related places on the Web that also address threats to not […]

Animals

Not-So-Elementary Bee Mystery

Old-style epidemiology casework combines with an array of 21st-century lab tests in the search for clues to the disappearance of honeybees.

Animals

Den Mothers: Bears shift dens as ice deteriorates

As Arctic ice has dwindled, pregnant polar bears in northern Alaska have become more likely to dig their birthing dens on land or nearshore ice than on floating masses of sea ice.

Ecosystems

Sea Change: People have affected what penguins eat

Adélie penguins in Antarctica significantly changed their eating habits about 200 years ago, after whaling and other human activities transformed the ocean ecosystem.