The ocean can be a cold place to call home. Mammals like seals stay warm by enveloping themselves in a layer of thick fur and blubber. Cephalopods — the group…
Category: Animals
50 years ago, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies
Fly factory planned for Mexico — Science News, June 2, 1973 A ‘fly factory’ whose product is living flies — 300 million of them every week — is to be…
When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues
Though masturbation is common across the animal kingdom, it seems, at its face, to be an evolutionary paradox: Why would an animal waste time, energy and reproductive resources on self-pleasure…
A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed
Invasive surgeries to spay cats could one day be a thing of the past, replaced instead with a single shot. An injected gene therapy given to female cats prevented…
These ants build tall nest hills to help show the way home
Some ants have figured out how to keep from getting lost: Build taller anthills. Desert ants that live in the hot, flat salt pans of Tunisia spend their days looking…
How a new Lyme vaccine for mice may protect people
A vaccine to fight Lyme disease, decades in the making, has received a temporary green light from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But it’s not for people — it’s for…
5,000 deep-sea animals new to science turned up in ocean records
More than 5,000 animal species previously unknown to science live in a pristine part of the deep sea. Their home — called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone — sits in the central…
Spiny mice have armadillo-like armor in their tails
The spiny mouse is an unassuming rodent, but it’s armed with a very special tail. CT scans show the tail is sheathed in a secret blanket of bony plates. Before…
Octopuses and squid are masters of RNA editing while leaving DNA intact
Citations S. Alon, et al. The majority of transcripts in the squid nervous system are extensively recoded by A-to-I RNA editing. eLife. January 8, 2015. doi: 10.7554/eLife.05198. N. Liscovitch-Brauer, et…
Large predators push coyotes and bobcats near people and to their demise
When wild animals take refuge from predators by straying near people, the illusion of safety can be deadly. In the wilderness, mid-sized predators like coyotes have learned to fear larger…
