Animals

Animals

Scientists piece together clues in a shark ‘murder mystery’

A missing porbeagle shark was likely killed by a great white. It’s the first known case of adult porbeagles being hunted by a predator, scientists say.

Animals

Here’s how an arthropod pulls off the world’s fastest backflip

While airborne, globular springtails can reach a spin rate of 368 rotations per second, high-speed camera footage shows.

Animals

In a first, these bats were found to have toes that glow

Hairs on the toes of Mexican free-tailed bats fluoresce under UV light, a new study reports. The function of the toe glow is unknown.

Life

Remote seamounts in the southeast Pacific may be home to 20 new species

A recent expedition to the intersection of two undersea mountain chains has revealed a new seamount and a rich world of deep-sea biodiversity.

Oceans

National Geographic’s ‘OceanXplorers’ dives into the ocean’s mysteries

National Geographic’s documentary series ‘OceanXplorers,’ produced by James Cameron, invites you aboard one of the most advanced research vessels in the world.

Animals

This spider makes its home in the burrows of extinct giant ground sloths

Caves made by extinct giant ground sloths make the perfect home for a newly discovered type of long-spinneret ground spider from Brazil.

Animals

This spider uses trapped fireflies to lure in more prey

Male fireflies trapped in the spider’s web flash femalelike lights, possibly luring in other flying males and allowing the arachnid to stock up on food.

Paleontology

This spiky fossil shows what early mollusks looked like

The fossil, plus 17 others from more than 500 million years ago, reveal that early mollusks were slug-like creatures with prickly armor.

Space

Scientists want to send endangered species’ cells to the moon

Climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity banks. It might be time to build a backup on the moon.

Animals

Nasty-tasting cane toads teach crocodiles a lifesaving lesson

After tasting nausea-inducing toad butts, crocodiles in Australia learned to avoid the poisonous live version. Crocodile deaths dropped by 95 percent.

Animals

A risk-tolerant immune system may enable house sparrows’ wanderlust

Birds that are willing to eat seed spiked with chicken poop have higher expression levels of a gut immunity gene, a new study finds.

Animals

A frog’s story of surviving a fungal pandemic offers hope for other species

Evolving immunity to the Bd fungus and a reintroduction project saved a California frog. The key to rescuing other species might be in the frog’s genes.