Animals

Animals

Bird DNA leads to strange family tree

Field guides often group birds together by similarities in appearance or behavior. But a new study, based on DNA, confirms earlier suspicions that such groupings are only skin-deep.

Animals

Picture This: Winter brings white noses

White-nose syndrome, caused by a fungus, has killed millions of bats in the eastern United States. Now, scientists show that the disease comes and goes, by season. The finding could help scientists more effectively target any treatments.

Agriculture

Livestock: A need to save rare breeds

New studies and ongoing work highlight why society should save rare livestock breeds — and the part that technology can play.

Animals

Scientists say: Hibernaculum

This week’s word is hibernaculum, the word scientists use to describe the place where an animal goes to hibernate.

Animals

Electric eels get on their prey’s nerves

Electric eels wield remote control over their prey’s muscle movements. They do this by zapping their nervous system. Experiments suggest the creatures use these paralyzing bursts of energy to hunt, too.

Animals

A nervy strategy for transplants

Adjusting the electric charges in cells helped a transplanted eye reach out to its new host. The eye grew cells, which help transmit signals to other cells.

Animals

Spidey sense: Eight-legged pollution monitors

Spiders that prey on aquatic insects can serve as sentinels that naturally monitor banned chemicals that still pollute many rivers across the United States.

Animals

Virus blamed in starfish die-off

A virus may explains the deaths of millions of starfish along the Pacific Coast of North America. The deaths affect 20 species. Some of the stricken animals appear to melt into puddles of slime.

Animals

Tar pit clues provide ice age news

New analyses of insects and mammals trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits point to climate surprises during the last ice age.

Animals

Tiny — but mighty — food-cleanup crews

Discarded food wastes can turn city spaces into food courts for disease-carrying rats and pigeons. But a new study shows tiny cleanup crews — especially pavement ants — are doing their best to eliminate such wastes. This, in turn, makes cities less attractive to bigger pests.

Animals

Climate change brings new neighborhood birds

Climate change has made winters a little bit warmer. Many bird species are now wintering a lot farther north than they did a few decades ago, a new study finds.

Animals

Crabs play defense, save corals

In 2008, an outbreak of large starfish killed off much of a coral reef. But some patches were spared. New data point to why: Mini crabs had fended off the big attackers.