Life

  1. Paleontology

    Some plesiosaurs went for clams

    The fossils of plesiosaurs recently unearthed in Australia suggest that the long-necked, aquatic reptiles had a more varied diet than scientists had previously suspected.

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  2. Animals

    Great Galloping Crinoids: Lilylike sea animal takes a brisk walk

    A sea creature called a stalked crinoid may look as motionless as a flower on a stem but a video has revealed it practically jogging across the ocean floor. Video.

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  3. Animals

    Cool Birds

    Emperor penguins go to such extremes to cope with life in Antarctica that they've inspired interesting science as well as a hit movie.

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  4. Animals

    Proxy Vampire: Spider eats blood by catching mosquitoes

    Researchers studying food preferences among spiders report finding the first one with a taste for vertebrate blood.

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  5. Paleontology

    Raptor Line: Fossil finds push back dinosaur ancestry

    Fossils of a newly discovered raptor dinosaur species suggest that the reptile's lineage is older and more widespread than previously suspected.

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  6. Animals

    Baited camera snaps first live giant squid

    For the first time, researchers have photographed a living giant squid in the wild.

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  7. Animals

    Looks Matter: If swallows aren’t spiffy, mates’ fidelity is iffy

    If a male barn swallow's plumage is more attractive than that of other males, his mate is less likely to have furtive flings with other wooers.

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  8. Paleontology

    DNA pegs Irish elk’s nearest relatives

    Analyses of DNA of the Irish elk, which died out after the last ice age, may settle a long-running debate about the creature's place on the deer family tree.

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  9. Animals

    Balls of Fire: Bees carefully cook invaders to death

    Honeybees that defend their colonies by killing wasps with body heat come within 5 degrees C of cooking themselves in the process.

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  10. Ecosystems

    West Nile virus fells endangered condor

    A 3-month-old California condor chick, one of only four of this highly endangered species born in the wild this year, succumbed to a West Nile virus infection.

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  11. Plants

    Save the Flowers

    Now that breeders have created thousands of new ornamental-flower varieties, scientists are turning their attention to restoring the fragrances that fell victim to the process.

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  12. Plants

    Day-Glo Flowers: Some bright blooms naturally fluoresce

    Some common flowers fluoresce but the glow most likely has little effect on pollinators.

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