In the Arctic, a drastically different climate means glaciers, snowfalls, and ice floes are shrinking. So are the muskoxen. The muskox is a massive creature – between 400 and 900 pounds when fully grown – with a shaggy coat and a big set of horns. Unlike caribou, Arctic muskoxen don’t migrate long distances in search […] More
According to new research, the easiest way to discourage mosquitoes from biting you is also the simplest: swat ’em. In a paper published in the journal Current Biology, researchers studied mosquitoes’ tendency toward what’s called “aversive conditioning,” and discovered that a turbulent experience — like narrowly missing being squished by a slap — discourages a mosquito […] More
Wikie the killer whale has a lot to say. She lives at Marineland, an amusement park in the South of France, where she’s been trained to perform tricks for visitors — and now, she’s participating in groundbreaking research. Recently, a team of researchers set out to determine whether orcas, who are famously vocal creatures within […] More
It seems the first time’s the charm for the female Australian jumping spider. A recent study by Vivian Mendez and her colleagues at Macquarie University, Australia, found that most female Servaea incana spiders only mate once in their lifetime, after which they become unwilling or even aggressive toward males who try to mate with them. The researchers examined the […] More
Spiders are often one of the first species to colonize new habitats, and many species are found in multiple locations — including multiple continents. In other words, spiders get around. Scientists as far back as Charles Darwin have studied an intriguing mode of spider transportation: ballooning, or floating through the air on a thin strand […] More
Ducks are one of only two species in the world (the other is the acorn barnacle) that can adjust their penis size to fit a given situation — including competition from other males, according to new research. Duck mating is an uncomfortable subject, to begin with — male ducks have corkscrew-shaped genitalia, often covered in […] More
Bonobos: they’re just like us. Researchers studying the sex habits of bonobos say sexual activity plays a crucial role in the social society of the primates. Bonobo society is a bit more peaceful than that of their cousins, the chimpanzee, but, like in any group that lives closely together, conflicts do arise. When it does, […] More
Things don’t look good for the Sehuencas water frog. Years of habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and a deadly disease have taken their toll on this aquatic frog native to Bolivia. Romeo—a male who was taken into captivity ten years ago—is the last known of his kind. Now, scientists are turning to online dating in […] More
Scientists have long known that crows are exceedingly intelligent animals, but new evidence shows they may be getting smarter and evolving right before our eyes. Researchers at University of St. Andrews and University in Edinburgh in the UK tested a group of New Caledonian crows on their ability to make and use tools to acquire […] More
Well, we know who we’re inviting to our next rave. A recent study found that chameleon bones glow under UV light, in the first known instance of bone-based fluorescence in a vertebrate. A team of German researchers tested the UV light on 31 species of Calumma chameleons, which are native to Madagascar. They observed a bright blue glow […] More
Snow leopards are no longer officially an endangered species — but that doesn’t mean the cat is out of the woods yet. Scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains a “red list” of endangered species around the globe, recently reclassified the leopard species as “vulnerable,” because there are actually more snow […] More
And you thought raising human newborns was tough! Across Europe, Africa and Asia, Stegodyphus spiders reproduce in large nests that are home to a number of spider families. Among them, one species native to South Africa, Stegodyphus dumicola, feed their young in a pretty gruesome way. As females take longer to mature than males, only about 40 percent of the females reproduce. […] More
