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…
Category: Animals
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…
The Sonoran Desert toad can alter your mind — it’s not the only animal
The adage “all attention is good attention” may be true for marketers — not so for the Sonoran Desert toad. Last fall, the U.S. National Park Service sent out a…
Why some hammerhead sharks seem to ‘hold their breath’ during dives
Even fish sometimes hold their breath in cold, dark, deep water. Scalloped hammerhead sharks living near Hawaii spend their days basking in warm surface waters. But at night, these fish…
Pregnancy may hamper bats’ ability to ‘see’ in the dark
Pregnancy can do weird things to the body. For some bats, it can hamper their ability to “see” the world around them. Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus kuhlii) echolocate less frequently…
Swarming locusts can deploy a chemical to avoid being cannibalized
For many locusts, life in a swarm is a picnic. Crowded conditions create a locust-eat-locust world. But it turns out some migrating insects deploy a “don’t-eat-me” pheromone that can deter…
