Life
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Ecosystems
Mistletoe, of all things, helps juniper trees
A mistletoe that grows on junipers may do the trees a favor by attracting birds that spread the junipers' seeds.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Unknown squids—with elbows—tease science
Glimpses from around the world suggest that the ocean depths hold novel, long-armed squids that belong in no known family.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Crows appear to make tools right-handedly
A study of 3,700 leaf remnants from crows making tools suggests that the birds prefer to work "right-handed."
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
Turn Your Head and Roar
The analysis of fossils that preserve evidence of diseases that appear to be similar or identical to afflictions that strike modern animals, including humans, could help scientists better grasp the causes and courses of today's ailments.
By Sid Perkins -
Animals
Female ducks can double eggs by trickery
Female goldeneye ducks can double their offspring by sneaking eggs into other females' nests before settling down to a nest of their own.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
New lizard ties for ‘world’s smallest’
A newly discovered lizard small enough to curl up on a dime ties for the title of the smallest of its kind in the world.
By Susan Milius -
Ecosystems
Move over, Leo. Give me more elbow room
The average size of the largest land animals on each of 25 oceanic islands and five continents strongly depends on the land area there.
By Sid Perkins -
Animals
The Tropical Majority
The abundant studies of temperate-zone birds may have biased ornithology when it comes to understanding the tropics.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Birds with a criminal past hide food well
Scrub jays that have stolen food from other bird's caches hide their own with extra care.
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
New fossils threaten an extinction theory
Recent discoveries of long-dead marine invertebrates call into question the occurrence of a catastrophic global extinction during the Late Devonian period, between 385 and 375 million years ago.
By Ben Harder -
Animals
She-male garter snakes: Some like it hot
Male garter snakes that emerge from hibernation and attract a mob of deluded male suitors may just be looking for safety in numbers and body heat.
By Susan Milius -
Animals
Finches figure out solo how to use tools
The woodpecker finches of the Galápagos, textbook examples of birds that use tools, pick up their considerable skills without copying each other.
By Susan Milius