Mostly armless: A starfish is one big “head crawling along the seafloor”

Patrick Star of SpongeBob SquarePants fame had already stretched the boundaries of anatomical correctness, yet it turns out that what all of us think about the bodily composition of a sea star is most likely wrong, thanks to new genetic work that sugge… Continue reading Mostly armless: A starfish is one big “head crawling along the seafloor”

‘Overlooked’ dinosaur had superpower senses ideal for life underground

A dinosaur that has been derided as plain and boring has had its reputation upended, with new technology revealing that it was in possession of some serious Late Cretaceous-era sensory superpowers that suggest it could have been thriving below the grou… Continue reading ‘Overlooked’ dinosaur had superpower senses ideal for life underground

Who you callin’ bird-brained? Pigeons learn the same way AI models do

Despite many studies showing pigeons are surprisingly smart, from being as good at counting as primates, to being able to identify breast cancer in X-rays, scientists are fighting a losing battle to dispute their widely held reputation as being a bit “… Continue reading Who you callin’ bird-brained? Pigeons learn the same way AI models do

Smart coop AI ‘Albert Eggstein’ can now translate your chickens’ chatter

Whether motivated by the environment and sustainability, the rising price of eggs, or how the pandemic profoundly changed home life for many families, it’s estimated that more than 17 million US households now have backyard chickens, with the numbers r… Continue reading Smart coop AI ‘Albert Eggstein’ can now translate your chickens’ chatter

Snake’s worst day captured in very rare sighting of unusual animal behavior

While we all know it’s a dog-eat-dog world, so to speak, an Australian snake species has taken the suggestion of cannibalism very literally and has been captured consuming a smaller, and very unlucky, version of itself.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology… Continue reading Snake’s worst day captured in very rare sighting of unusual animal behavior

Nature calls: The 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

The annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, hosted by the Natural History Museum of London, is a hotly contested event. And 2023 was no different, with the judges having 49,957 images to narrow down to a handful of adult and junior winners.Con… Continue reading Nature calls: The 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Look out, L’Oréal: Whales play with seaweed to exfoliate their skin

Play is an important part of animal behavior, helping diverse species form social structures and bonds, develop cognitive function and enhance physical abilities. Yet human understanding of how other animals play is not well understood. Now, scientists… Continue reading Look out, L’Oréal: Whales play with seaweed to exfoliate their skin

First RNA extracted from extinct species may help thylacine resurrection

Scientists have successfully extracted RNA molecules from an extinct species for the first time. The milestone was achieved in the thylacine, a species of carnivorous marsupial that roamed Australia until about a century ago – and may again one day, if… Continue reading First RNA extracted from extinct species may help thylacine resurrection

Ground-penetrating radar seeks out elusive rare wombats

The world’s largest herbivorous burrowing mammal is on borrowed time, with only 315 individuals estimated to remain in the wild. Now, scientists have enlisted the latest ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to track down the northern hairy-nosed w… Continue reading Ground-penetrating radar seeks out elusive rare wombats

“Zombie shrimp”: How parasites hack host genes to do their bidding

The animal kingdom is home to all kinds of stories – adventures, romance, tragedy, and as it turns out, even horror stories. Scientists at Brown University have now uncovered a creepy new zombie story involving worms that propagate by hack their shrimp… Continue reading “Zombie shrimp”: How parasites hack host genes to do their bidding