Dogs in Europe had been domesticated from wild wolves by at least 14,200 years ago, two new genetic studies suggest. Both studies, published March 25 in Nature, use ancient DNA…
Category: Animals
These insects fly with their legs. Physics explains how
Senior physics writer Emily Conover has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. She is a two-time winner of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association Newsbrief award and a…
Female giant rainforest mantises grow up to strike harder than males
If giant rainforest mantises went to kindergarten, little girl mantises wouldn’t look any bigger and stronger than the little boy mantises. Not until the end of mantis high school would…
Mosquitoes get the ‘I’m full’ signal from their butts, not their brains
Mosquitoes have an appetite dampener in their derrières. When mosquitoes’ bellies are full, special cells in their rectums block their bloodthirst, researchers report March 20 in Current Biology. The finding…
Sharks are ingesting drugs in the Bahamas
Sharks off the coast of the Bahamas are getting into drugs like cocaine, caffeine and painkillers — or rather, drugs are getting into them. The contaminated blood of species including…
Platypuses share a surprising fur feature with birds
Platypuses just got weirder. As if a mammal that lays eggs, senses electricity with its bill and fluoresces isn’t enough of a headscratcher, now it appears platypuses also share a…
Wild monkeys invaded Florida. Should people protect them?
It was a typical Florida story. In January 2014, Missy Williams stood at the edge of a park-and-fly in Dania Beach near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. She watched the boundary…
Why African striped mice can be the best of dads — or the worst
The difference between a doting dad and a deadbeat one may come down to a molecular switch in the brain — at least in African striped mice. Boosting activity of…
The Amazon molly — a sex-skipping fish — hacks evolution
The Amazon molly is an evolutionary enigma: an all-female fish that reproduces by cloning itself. Because it doesn’t mix its DNA with a mate’s, Darwinian logic holds that harmful mutations…
Submerged bumblebee queens breathe underwater
The bedraggled bumblebee queen seemed lifeless. Yet she was somehow alive — still breathing after being underwater for roughly a week in the lab. Did she manage to hold her breath for…
