Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals

August 20, 2016

Rewriting the Genome of Living Bacteria

Calls to Eggs Help Birds Adapt to Warmer World?

Pre-Hispanic Mexicans Bred and Managed Rabbits

Down to the Wire: GM Bacteria Carry Electricity

Latest Headlines

updated 11:31am EDT

Big Fish, and Their Urine, Are Key Parts of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Aug. 16, 2016 — Large, carnivorous fish excrete almost half of the key nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, that are essential for the survival of coral reefs, report scientists, making them ... read more

On the Prowl for an Elusive Rodent Called 'the Ultimate Pokémon'

Aug. 16, 2016 — Researchers are on a real-life search for what one calls 'the ultimate Pokémon': Zenkerella, an elusive scaly-tailed squirrel that has never been spotted alive by ... read more

Female Fish Can Favor Sperm from Preferred Males Despite External Fertilization

Aug. 16, 2016 — Biologists studying a small, colorful fish in the Mediterranean Sea have discovered a new way in which a female can choose ... read more

Luna Moth's Long Tail Could Confuse Bat Sonar Through Its Twist

Aug. 15, 2016 — A detailed look at how sound waves bounce off a flying moth’s body offers new clues for how its long, twisted tail might help it evade ... read more

Sewage Sludge Could Make Great Sustainable Fertilizer

Aug. 15, 2016 — Ever thought of putting sewage on your plants? Scientists say thermally conditioned sewage sludge serves as an excellent fertilizer to improve soil properties. The major advantage over commercial ... read more

Greenland Sharks Live for Hundreds of Years

Aug. 12, 2016 — The 5 meter long Greenland shark's general biology and way of life have been a mystery to biologists for many years. However, marine biologists have now deployed an ... read more

In a Race for Cheetos, Magpies Win, but Crows Steal

Aug. 11, 2016 — In urban neighborhoods, magpies often nest near their cousin corvid species, crows. Nesting near a bigger bird affords them some extra defense against predators. But do they ... read more

Orangutan Able to Guess a Taste Without Sampling It, Just Like Us

Aug. 11, 2016 — Without having tasted a new juice mix before, an orangutan in a Swedish zoo has enough sense to know whether it will taste nice or not based on how he recombined relevant ... read more

Unearthed: The Cannibal Sharks of a Forgotten Age

Aug. 11, 2016 — Scientists have discovered incredible fossil evidence that a 300-million-year-old shark, which mildly resembled a modern-day bull shark, cannibalized ... read more

Unraveling the Jaw-Dropping Goblin Shark

Aug. 10, 2016 — Scientists have revealed goblin sharks' 'slingshot feeding' mechanism, which involves high-speed protrusion of their jaws. Goblin sharks have revealed a remarkable biting ... read more

Scientists Keep Finding Strange, New Creatures In The Deep Sea

Ducks on Pest Patrol at South African Vineyards

The Heat In NYC Means Cockroaches Are Flying, So That's Horrifying

Greenland Shark: Long in the Tooth

Toward Clothes That Fix Their Own Rips

Aug. 10, 2016 — Ripped pants or a torn shirt usually means a trip to the tailor or a garbage can is in one's future. But scientists could be closing in on a new solution. They report a fabric coating made of ... read more

DNA Dominoes on a Chip

Aug. 9, 2016 — Normally, individual molecules of genetic material repel each other. However, when space is limited DNA molecules must be packed together more tightly. This case arises in sperm, cell nuclei and the ... read more

Stem Cells of Worms, Humans More Similar Than Expected

Aug. 9, 2016 — The transient form of genetic information, the RNA, is processed in a similar manner in the cells of both organisms. These mechanisms seem to be at work throughout the whole animal kingdom. ... read more

Study Demonstrates Rapid Decline in Male Dog Fertility, With Potential Link to Environmental Contaminants

Aug. 9, 2016 — The fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades, a new study has found. The research found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year ... read more

Nature, Not Nurture, Defines Cricket Social Networks

Aug. 8, 2016 — The social lives of crickets are similar generation to generation, even though the insects can't learn directly from their mum and ... read more

Sharks Get Bad Rap When Viewed With Ominous Background Music

Aug. 4, 2016 — In a new study, researchers found that the background music in shark documentaries affects viewers' perceptions of sharks. The researchers suggest that ominous background music could hinder ... read more

Radar Tracking Reveals the 'Life Stories' of Bumblebees as They Forage for Food

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have tracked the flight paths of a group of bumblebees throughout their entire lives to find out how they explore their environment and search for ... read more

Researchers Discover What Makes Mice Freeze or Flee

Aug. 4, 2016 — Mice are likely to freeze at the sight of small slow-moving shapes and flee from fast approaching ones, finds new research.This provides the first evidence that mice make instinctive choices based on ... read more

Mystery of Sable Island’s Growing Wild Horse Population

Aug. 4, 2016 — Biologists have made a significant advance in understanding the ecology of Sable Island and its iconic wild horses -- one that underscores how intimately connected living systems ... read more

Smiling Baby Monkeys and the Roots of Laughter

Aug. 4, 2016 — When human and chimp infants are dozing, they sometimes show facial movements that resemble smiles. These facial expressions, called spontaneous smiles, are considered the evolutionary origin of real ... read more

Lab-Reared Maggots May Save Darwin's Famous Finches

Aug. 4, 2016 — Researchers reveal how they used chicken blood to rear larvae of the fly Philornis downsi, an invasive species that parasitizes birds in the Galapagos Islands. The new method may be the first to ... read more

Waste Not: Edible Wax Coating Slicks Liquids With Ease

Aug. 3, 2016 — Materials scientists have created a 'superhydrophobic' coating that easily slicks away viscous liquids like syrup, honey and ketchup. They detail the engineering feat in a new paper that ... read more

Asian Giant Honeybees May Move in Synchrony to Ventilate Nests

Aug. 3, 2016 — The Asian giant honeybee, Apis dorsata, builds its large single-comb nests out in the open, making them potentially vulnerable to extremes of temperature that may threaten survival. New research ... read more

Birds Engage in All Types of Sleep in Flight, but in Remarkably Small Amounts

Aug. 3, 2016 — For the first time, researchers have discovered that birds can sleep in flight. They measured the brain activity of frigatebirds and found that they sleep in flight with either one cerebral ... read more

Rich Bugs Revealed: Homes in Wealthier Neighborhoods Host a Greater Diversity of Insects

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers are looking beyond homes' nooks and crannies to consider the socioeconomic context of insect-packed households. A team of researchers surveyed the number of different insects in 50 ... read more

What Can a Sea-Lion Teach Us About Musicality?

Aug. 2, 2016 — Ronan the sea lion can keep the beat better than any other animal; a new study found out ... read more

Restoring Prairie and Fighting Wildfire With (Drone Launched) Fire(balls)

Aug. 1, 2016 — One ecologist wants to change the way we think about prescribed burns. The professor says he can harness extreme fire to restore grasslands on the Great Plains -- and he has created a small drone ... read more

Origins of the Female Orgasm Explained

Aug. 1, 2016 — Female orgasm seems to be a happy afterthought of our evolutionary past when it helped stimulate ovulation, a new study of mammals ... read more

Researcher Discovers Unique Anatomical Characteristic in Barnacle Study

July 26, 2016 — A new study looked at the male sexual organ of barnacles, which it turns out is a marine creature that has been studied dating all the way back to Charles ... read more

Sexual Rivalry May Drive Frog Reproductive Behaviors

July 26, 2016 — Biologists have long thought that some frogs evolved to mate on land instead of in water to better guard eggs and tadpoles from predation. New research now suggests that mating on land in many ... read more

Wednesday, August 10, 2016