A crucial link in the life cycle of one parasitic plant may be found in a surprising place — the bellies of the descendants of an ancient line of rabbits.…
Category: Animals
A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds
A crucial link in the life cycle of one parasitic plant may be found in a surprising place — the bellies of the descendants of an ancient line of rabbits.…
Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl
Today’s red jungle fowl — the wild forebears of the domesticated chicken — are becoming more chickenlike. New research suggests that a large proportion of the wild fowl’s DNA has…
These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles
Animals cover themselves in all kinds of unsavory fluids to keep cool. Humans sweat, kangaroos spit and some birds will urinate on themselves to survive hot days. It turns out…
Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’
How Far the Light ReachesSabrina ImblerLittle, Brown & Co., $27 In How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler shows us that the ocean, in all its mystery and dazzling glory,…
Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually
Given enough time, jumping beans will always find their way out of the sun. Jumping beans, which are really seed pods with twitchy moth larvae inside, hop around in a…
These are our favorite animal stories of 2022
From spiders that catapult their way to safety to sea sponges that sneeze themselves clean, here are the creature features that most impressed us in 2022. Fishing fox Pics or…
Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong
Female snakes have clitorises too, a new study finds. The research raises the possibility that the sex lives of snakes are more complicated and diverse than previously understood, researchers report…
Katydids had the earliest known insect ears 160 million years ago
Over 100 million years ago, the chirps of insects known as katydids dominated the sounds of Earth’s nights. Now, fossils reveal what the katydid ears that heard those sounds looked…
A parasite makes wolves more likely to become pack leaders
A parasite might be driving some wolves to lead or go solo. Wolves in Yellowstone National Park infected with Toxoplasma gondii make more daring decisions than their uninfected counterparts, researchers…
