No one knew if orcas could take down the largest animal on the planet – until now Killer whales are skilled assassins, hunting everything from herring to great white sharks. Now, for the first time, scientists witnessed a pod of killer whales bring down the world’s largest animal: an adultContinue Reading
A million years ago, the soundtrack of the “sky island” mountains of East Africa may have been very similar to what it is today. A million years ago, the soundtrack of the “sky island” mountains of East Africa may have been very similar to what it is today. That’s becauseContinue Reading
The graveyard had more than 100 fossilized dinosaur eggs. A Jurassic graveyard in Patagonia, Argentina, holds more than 100 fossilized eggs and the bones of 80 Mussaurus patagonicus dinosaurs ranging in age from hatchling to adult. The trove of dinosaur remains suggests that these paleo-beasts lived in herds as earlyContinue Reading
A lab experiment shows how fear can render some exotic species less harmful Invasive mosquito fish are often fearless. Free from the predators of their native range, these mosquito fish run rampant, throwing naive ecosystems from Europe to Australia out of whack. To keep the problematic fish in check, scientistsContinue Reading
Specialized microbes help the insects avoid food poisoning Mention foraging bees and most people will picture insects flitting from flower to flower in search of nectar. But in the jungles of Central and South America, “vulture bees” have developed a taste for decaying flesh. They are “the weirdos of theContinue Reading
Images of more than 10,000 bird species reveal that farther fliers tend to have lighter feathers From teeny hummingbirds to giant whooping cranes, roughly half of the world’s more than 10,000 bird species migrate. Longer wings and beefed-up flying muscles often help these birds crisscross vast expanses of air. ButContinue Reading
Ants have social networks, and they exchange info through vomit. Ants have social networks just like humans do, but instead of exchanging information through posts and comments, they vomit into each other’s mouths. Most insects have a foregut, a midgut and a hindgut. “However, for social insects, the foregut hasContinue Reading
Though peak season for sharks is over, some individuals still linger near the coast. Calm waters near the Cape Cod coast recently erupted in a display of predatory violence as a great white shark tore into a seal, and an onlooker on a boat captured the attack on video. PeakContinue Reading
Funnel-web spiders are typically half the Megaspider’s size. What has eight legs and fangs powerful enough to bite through a human fingernail? “Megaspider,” an enormous funnel-web spider that was recently captured in Australia. The Australian Reptile Park (ARP) in New South Wales is a public zoo that also houses aContinue Reading
Tens of millions of years ago, the common ancestors of humans and all other primates had tails. Many modern primates, such as monkeys and lemurs, still have tails, but as primates diversified and evolved, the ancestors of modern humans, as well as apes such as chimps and bonobos — ourContinue Reading