In the battle against the invasive house mouse on islands, scientists are using the rodent’s own genes against it. With the right tweaks, introducing a few hundred genetically altered mice…
Category: Animals
Mammoths may have gone extinct much earlier than DNA suggests
Some ancient DNA may be leading paleontologists astray in attempts to date when woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos went extinct. In 2021, an analysis of plant and animal DNA from…
Dry pet food may be more environmentally friendly than wet food
Pet owners may have a new reason to reach for the kibble. Dry cat and dog food tends to be better for the environment than wet food, veterinary nutritionist Vivian…
Rats can bop their heads to the beat
Humans aren’t the only animals known to move to a musical beat. For instance, parrots do it, too. And now rats have been observed bopping their heads in time with…
Long considered loners, many marsupials may have complex social lives
Marsupials may have richer social lives than previously thought. Generally considered loners, the pouched animals have a wide diversity of social relationships that have gone unrecognized, a new analysis published…
These devices use an electric field to scare sharks from fishing hooks
A new gadget takes advantage of sharks’ sixth sense to send the fish scurrying away from deadly hooks. Sharks, rays and their relatives can detect tiny electric fields, thanks to…
Tiger sharks helped discover the world’s largest seagrass prairie
Scientists have teamed up with tiger sharks to uncover the largest expanse of seagrasses on Earth. A massive survey of the Bahamas Banks — a cluster of underwater plateaus…
A clam presumed extinct for 40,000 years has been found alive
A species of clam is back from the dead. Known as Cymatioa cooki, the clam had only ever been found as a fossil, and scientists presumed that the species had…
Some harlequin frogs — presumed extinct — have been rediscovered
Across Central and South America, one group of bejeweled frogs is making a comeback. Harlequin frogs — a genus with over 100 brightly colored species — were one of the…
Deer-vehicle collisions spike when daylight saving time ends
People pay deerly for the switch from daylight saving time. The change to standard time in autumn corresponds with an average 16 percent increase in deer-vehicle collisions in the United…
