Animals
- Life
Plants, animals adapt to city living
Cities have turned into experiments in evolution for both plants and animals, from the taste of clover to the stickiness of lizards’ toes.
- Health & Medicine
End of Latin America’s Zika epidemic is in sight
A computer simulation suggests the Zika epidemic in Latin America is peaking and may not strike hard again for up to three decades.
- Genetics
GM mosquitoes cut rate of viral disease in Brazil
Adults males carrying the altered gene cannot father young that survive to adulthood. That’s when they suck blood — and can transmit disease.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Crepuscular
Day creatures are diurnal. Night creatures are nocturnal. Animals active at twilight get a special name.
- Animals
Frigate birds spend months without landing
Frigate birds can fly non-stop for months. They stay in the air with the help of upward-moving airflows, a new study finds.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Venomous
A poison-arrow frog is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is not. What’s the difference? It’s how their poisons are delivered.
- Animals
Current coral bleaching event is the longest known
Heat stress has led to the longest coral bleaching event on record. Scientists now worry that global warming may make such prolonged crises more frequent.
- Animals
This mammal has the world’s slowest metabolism
A sloth species manages to exist with a super-slow metabolism by moving little and using its environment for heating and cooling its body.
- Animals
Singing lemurs sync up — until one goes solo
The indri lemurs of Madagascar sing in chorus to mark their territory. But young males sometimes solo, which may help them attract a mate.
- Animals
Snout goo may help sharks sense prey
Scientists may be one step closer to understanding how sharks sense their prey. Pores on their snout and face are lined with a gel that may help relay electrical currents created by prey’s movements.
- Animals
Leapin’ eels! Video shows they attack with zaps
When a predator threatens an electric eel from above, the animals leap up to deliver a shocking defense.
- Life
How a moth went to the dark side
Peppered moths and some butterflies are icons of evolution. Now scientists have found a gene responsible for making them so.
