When sick, Nile tilapia seek warmer water. That behavioral fever triggers a specialized immune response, hinting the connection evolved long ago.
Category: Animals
Mole or marsupial? This subterranean critter with a backward pouch is both
Evolving a dig-in-the-dark mole lifestyle comes with radical anatomical changes, making it hard even to guess the animal’s closest relatives. That’s why the true identity of Australia’s most enigmatic and…
In chimpanzees, peeing is contagious
Hate waiting in line for the bathroom? Chimpanzees have a social solution: Go all at once. A new study shows that peeing is contagious in chimpanzees, making it “the first…
Hand-feeding squirrels accidentally changed their skulls
Soft diet, weak jaws. If red squirrels eat too many peanuts, their jaws end up weaker than the jaws of squirrels eating natural diets, researchers report January 15 in Royal…
More new geckos have been found hiding in Southeast Asia’s limestone towers
Landscapes in Southeast Asia once thought to stifle biological evolution may instead stoke its fires. Karst ecosystems have been referred to as arks of biodiversity, a term that highlights their…
Poop is on the menu for a surprising number of animals
Feces don’t get enough credit as food. The stinky stuff is not just an end product after food gets eaten, digested and finally discarded by animal guts. Poop can also…
‘Forever chemicals’ are causing health problems in some wildlife
“Forever chemicals” are pervasive, and researchers have in recent years been ringing the alarms about the negative impacts on human health. But humans aren’t the only animals to be concerned…
Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms
Few creatures can tangle with a velvet ant and walk away unscathed. These ground-dwelling insects are not ants, but parasitic wasps known for their excruciating stings. Now researchers have discovered…
American burying beetles are making a comeback in Nebraska
One of the world’s best insect undertakers is making a comeback. Populations of the American burying beetle, North America’s largest carrion beetle, have been decimated due mainly to habitat loss…
Dogs team up with AI to sniff out cancer
Meghan Rosen is a staff writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from…
