Creature
All that slithers, swims, flits, flies, grows and dies
Animals, plants, microbes, fungi and all life on Earth, from long-buried dinosaurs to newly emerging infections, often serve to instruct and amaze. We are interested in everything from the simplest physical structures to the most complex emergent behavior of life's many forms — from the extinct to the evolved and from the web of ecology to the promise of animal-inspired technology.
Up to 63% of African and Arabian mammal species may have vanished in a previously undetected die-off.
What nature's most complex constructions can tell us about how the brain organizes behaviors.
A new paper examines how elephants work together to solve a task and when cooperation breaks down.
Examining small molecules that attach to DNA strands can help build a sense of a lobster's age.
Researchers used DNA from leeches' last blood meals to find out what animals live where in China's Ailaoshan Nature Reserve.
The flying reptile was among hundreds of fossils recovered by police in 2013.
Analysis of fish ear bones reveals how bioluminescent lanternfish became so abundant.
Scientists identified competing neural pathways that control flies' decision making.
The carnivores play a unique role in breaking down calcium, phosphorous from prey.
Experiments on fox squirrels show they know the perfect combination of speed, springiness and "parkour movements" to get their nuts.
A fossil skull from a bird that lived in the time of dinosaurs sheds light on how the ancestors of modern birds escaped extinction.