All eight arms of an octopus can be used for whatever their cephalopod owner wishes, but some arms are favored for certain tasks. A new, detailed analysis of how octopuses…
Category: Animals
Just like humans, many animals get more aggressive in the heat
Citations E.K. Francispillai, S.M. Dietsch and L.J. Chapman. Effects of temperature on fish aggression and the combined impact of temperature and turbidity on thermal tolerance. Journal of Thermal Biology. Vol. 125, October…
Tiny thumbnails may be key for rodents’ global takeover
Rodents may have a rule of thumbnails. Many rodents have curved claws that help the animals climb or dig. But most also have flat nails on their thumbs, researchers report…
Here’s how fruit flies’ giant sperm squeeze into tight spaces
Researchers found that fruit fly sperm push against one another and align in orderly bundles, preventing knots that could block reproduction.
This lizard can tolerate extreme levels of lead
Cuban brown anoles have the highest blood lead levels of any vertebrate known — three times that of the previous record holder, the Nile crocodile.
Horses may have become rideable with the help of a genetic mutation
Two key gene variants may have made early domesticated horses more tame and more physically resilient to bearing a rider, researchers report August 28 in Science. The resulting horses were…
The mysterious, extinct ‘Fuegian dog’ was actually a semi-tame fox
A strange and mysterious extinct dog breed from far southern South America might not have been a dog at all. The “Fuegian dogs” that lived with the Indigenous peoples of…
The phoenix isn’t the only critter to survive the flames
At the end of its life, the phoenix goes out in style. With a loud cry, the crimson bird bursts into flames. Then from a pile of ash, a baby…
Frilly bug feet inspire a water-striding robot
Ripple bugs’ nimble movements on the surface of water inspired a robot with automatically unfurling fans on its feet.
Around the world, birds sing longer in light-polluted areas
Light pollution makes birds work overtime. A behavioral analysis of nearly 600 bird species suggests that light pollution from human development can lengthen the time birds spend singing by nearly…
