Animals

  1. Life

    Why some whales become giants and others are only big

    Being big helps whales access more food. But just how big a whale can get is influenced by whether it hunts or filter-feeds.

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  2. Animals

    Scientists Say: Herbivore

    Herbivores are animals that can live on a diet of mostly plants.

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  3. Animals

    Whales echolocate with big clicks and tiny amounts of air

    Toothed whales may echolocate using bits of air that they recycle inside their heads to conserve both air and energy.

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  4. Tech

    Drones help scientists weigh whales at sea

    Drone imagery lets scientists estimate a whale’s weight. And that may help monitor the health of these big mammals for conservation purposes.

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  5. Animals

    Scientists Say: Papillae

    These small nubs stick out from a body part. They include things such as tongue bumps with taste buds and the structures under the skin that help grow hair.

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  6. Animals

    Why are bird eggs in cold climates darker colored?

    A global survey of bird egg color has revealed a simple trend: the colder the climate, the darker the egg.

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  7. Animals

    Piranhas and plant-eating kin replace half their teeth at once

    Piranhas and pacus shed and replace half of their teeth at a time. New teeth lock together as they push up from the jaw.

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  8. Animals

    Blood vessels in their heads kept big dinos from overheating

    Giant dinosaurs evolved several ways to cool their blood and avoid heatstroke.

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  9. Fossils

    Fossils show mammals’ rise to dominance after the dino-killing asteroid

    What happened to mammals after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs? Newfound fossils show how they grew in size, eventually dominating much of life on Earth.

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  10. Tech

    Weird little fish inspires the development of super-grippers

    Suction-cup designers were inspired by the rock-grabbing tricks of the aptly named clingfish.

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  11. Animals

    Humpback whales catch fish using bubbles and flippers

    Scientist for the first time have captured details of humpback whales’ hunting tactics on camera.

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  12. Animals

    Congolese toads may avoid predators by copycatting deadly vipers

    If Congolese giant toads are mimicking venomous Gaboon vipers, this would be the first reported case of a frog imitating a snake.

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