Self-awareness may be more widespread among animals than we once thought Some fish can recognize their own faces in photos and mirrors, an ability usually attributed to humans and other animals considered particularly brainy, such as chimpanzees, scientists report. Finding the ability in fish suggests that self-awareness may be farContinue Reading
The animal might use spines on its throat to recognize potential mates instead of calls A newfound species of frog doesn’t ribbit. In fact, it doesn’t make any sound at all. Many frogs have unusual characteristics, from turning translucent to being clumsy jumpers. The recently discovered amphibian lacks a voice.Continue Reading
A female Tasmanian tiger that died in 1936, not a male named Benjamin, was actually the last surviving member of this extinct species. The female’s remains had been hidden in museum storage. It has long been believed that Benjamin, a male Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), was the last surviving memberContinue Reading
Not only did ankylosaurs like “Zuul” use their tails as weapons against potential predators, but they also used them to battle their peers. Equipped with massive tails studded with spikes, ankylosaurs were heavily armored herbivores that could do real damage in a fight. Paleontologists once thought that these tank-like dinosaursContinue Reading
Four exceptional fossils represent newly described species. Just beneath the scrubby plains of southern North Dakota at the site of an ancient riverbed, paleontologists are hard at work digging up the end of the world as the dinosaurs knew it. Now, they’ve discovered two newfound species of 66 million-year-old sturgeonContinue Reading
Orcas sometimes pick up a behavior for a while and then quit it just as quickly. Orcas are snapping the rudders off boats off the European coast, and scientists aren’t sure why. According to NPR, the spate of odd encounters has spanned from the coasts of Portugal and Spain upContinue Reading
This bug is a ticking time bomb of killer fungus. On a leaf in the Peruvian Amazon, a fly’s exoskeleton bursts open. Seven fungal stems emerge, flaring outward in a twisted bouquet. The fungus already took control of the fly’s mind and body — now, it’s time to find aContinue Reading
This helps protect the tadpole-like fish from the cold. Scientists drilling deep into an iceberg off Greenland have discovered a fish with glowing green antifreeze coursing through its veins. The juvenile variegated snailfish (Liparis gibbus) contained the “highest expression levels” of antifreeze proteins ever reported, a new study found. SimilarContinue Reading
Time-lapse video reveals the surprising way debris-filled mucus moves out of a sponge’s body The next time you spot a sea sponge, say “gesundheit!” Some sponges regularly “sneeze” to clear debris from their porous bodies. As filter feeders, sponges draw in water through inlet pores — called ostia — andContinue Reading
Parasite transmission was lower when the insects landed on long, narrow flowers Bees that land on short, wide flowers can fly away with an upset stomach. Common eastern bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) are more likely to catch a diarrhea-inducing gut parasite from purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and other similarly shaped floraContinue Reading