Self-awareness may be beyond primates in the wild. Chimps, organutans and other species faced with a mirror react to a dot on their face in the lab, a widely used…
Category: Animals
Feeding sharks ‘junk food’ takes a toll on their health
In general, sharks have a reputation as swimming garbage cans that unflinchingly dine on whatever they can fit in their jaws. But in French Polynesia, blacktip reef sharks that frequent…
Chatty bats are more likely to take risks
All bats are vocal, but some are more vocal than others. This chattiness reveals their individuality, with more talkative bats acting more boldly, researchers report January 29 in Proceedings of…
This drawing is the oldest known sketch of an insect brain
After nearly 350 years, a depiction of a bee’s brain is getting some buzz. A manuscript created in the mid-1670s contains the oldest known depiction of an insect’s brain, historian…
Like flyways for birds, we need to map swimways for fish
For almost a century, migratory flyways have been a cornerstone of bird conservation. Knowing where these aerial highways are helps protect habitats and monitor species through carefully mapped routes that…
Cricket frogs belly flop their way across water
Cricket frogs were once thought to hop on the water’s surface. They actually leap in and out of the water in a form of locomotion called porpoising.
Fever’s link with a key kind of immunity is surprisingly ancient
When sick, Nile tilapia seek warmer water. That behavioral fever triggers a specialized immune response, hinting the connection evolved long ago.
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…
