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…
Category: Animals
More new geckos have been found hiding in Southeast Asia’s limestone towers
Landscapes in Southeast Asia once thought to stifle biological evolution may instead stoke its fires. Karst ecosystems have been referred to as arks of biodiversity, a term that highlights their…
Poop is on the menu for a surprising number of animals
Feces don’t get enough credit as food. The stinky stuff is not just an end product after food gets eaten, digested and finally discarded by animal guts. Poop can also…
‘Forever chemicals’ are causing health problems in some wildlife
“Forever chemicals” are pervasive, and researchers have in recent years been ringing the alarms about the negative impacts on human health. But humans aren’t the only animals to be concerned…
Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms
Few creatures can tangle with a velvet ant and walk away unscathed. These ground-dwelling insects are not ants, but parasitic wasps known for their excruciating stings. Now researchers have discovered…
American burying beetles are making a comeback in Nebraska
One of the world’s best insect undertakers is making a comeback. Populations of the American burying beetle, North America’s largest carrion beetle, have been decimated due mainly to habitat loss…
Dogs team up with AI to sniff out cancer
Meghan Rosen is a staff writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from…
These are the 5 most popular Science News stories of 2024
Science News drew millions of visitors to our website this year. Here’s a look back at the most-read and most-watched online news stories of 2024. Top news stories 5. Psilocybin…
These are our favorite animal stories of 2024
From superpowered bees to theatrical snakes, these reports from the animal kingdom drove us wild in 2024. Mighty morphin’ beluga blobs You can learn a lot about a beluga (Delphinapterus…
Sheep earwax can record a dangerous diet
A bit of ear goop can reveal if sheep are eating dangerously poisonous plants. Earwax from sheep that have eaten death camas contains the plants’ toxins within a few days…
