Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2009

Album: Colorful Dinosaur Art

Eye of the Riverbed: (Tyrannosaurus) (Image credit: Photograph © Julius T. Csotonyi (csotonyi.com). Image used with permission.)The bipedal Tyrannosaurus rex used its long tail to balance its large head as it roamed in search of prey. Scientists don’t know whether T. rex could run at high speeds or whether its...

Nov 30, 2009

More than 1,000 Catfish Species Are Venomous

At least 1,250 species of catfish are venomous, a new study finds. Most catfish use their venom for defense. Some in North America can inflict a sting that humans notice. Elsewhere in the world, a few catfish species can even kill humans. The new count of venomous catfish — which...

Nov 30, 2009

Turtles Act Like Chameleons

Freshwater turtles’ skin and shells often match the color of their habitat’s substrate, which may help them deceive predators and prey alike. But what happens if turtles change abodes, from a black swamp, say, to a sandy-bottomed pond? John W. Rowe, of Alma College in Michigan, and three colleagues collected...

Nov 30, 2009

Wild Dingoes Remember Human Gestures

Dingoes were semidomesticated village dogs once, in Southeast Asia. Then, about 4,000 years ago, they got loose in Australia, where their behavior reverted to that of their ancestor, the wolf. They howl, live in packs, and fear humans. But even after so long on the lam they’ve retained at least...

Nov 30, 2009

Birds Favor Most Promising Offspring

Parasites can lessen a young bird’s chance of survival. If parents can detect signs of infection early, they may cut their losses by reducing their efforts to feed and care for parasitized broods—thus saving energy for healthy offspring or future breeding attempts. A new study suggests that such parental vetting...

Nov 30, 2009

Creepy Case: Tarantula Shoots Hairs into Owner's Eye

A creepy case of a man who got tarantula hairs stuck in his eye has doctors advising people to wear eye protection when handling the eight-legged pets. In February 2009, a 29-year-old man visited the St. James's University Hospital in Leeds, England, after enduring three weeks of a red, watery...

Oct 31, 2009

Image Gallery: Drawing Dinosaurs

Tyrannosaurus rex (Image credit: Photograph © Julius T. Csotonyi (csotonyi.com). Image used with permission.)With its 4-foot long mouth full of sharp 6-inch teeth, the carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex could easily rip into its prey. Tyrannosaurus rex (Image credit: Photograph © Julius T. Csotonyi (csotonyi.com). Image used with permission.)About 15 feet tall...

Oct 31, 2009

T. rex's Oldest Relative Discovered

Spanning just 10 feet in length and sporting a tiny horn on its nose, a newly identified dinosaur has become the oldest known relative of the fierce meat-eater, Tyrannosaurus rex. The discovery suggests such tyrannosaurs were quite petite before they evolved into giant killing machines just before their demise. The...

Oct 31, 2009

Aussie Birds Shrinking, Heading Poleward

Australia’s average surface temperature has risen more than 1 Fahrenheit degree since 1900. During roughly the same period, the body size of Australian passerine (perching) birds has declined by as much as 3.6 percent. Zoologist Janet L. Gardner of the Australian National University in Canberra and colleagues, who detected the...

Oct 31, 2009

Ants Save Mates Trapped in Sand

Helpful acts, such as grooming or foster parenting, are common throughout the animal kingdom, but accounts of animals rescuing one another from danger are exceedingly rare, having been reported in the scientific literature only for dolphins, capuchin monkeys, and ants. New research shows that in the ant Cataglyphis cursor, the...

Oct 31, 2009

Key to Success? Dinosaurs May Have Been Warm-Blooded

Many dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded just like mammals or birds, potentially explaining their extraordinary success before their extinction. For decades, scientists assumed that because dinosaurs resembled lizards, they were cold-blooded as well, their internal temperature rising and falling with the outside world. However, birds are warm-blooded, and the fact...

Oct 31, 2009

Following Feathers from Birds to Dinosaurs

Richard Prum, a biologist at Yale University and the director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, is one of the leading experts on the evolution of feathers and the relationship between birds and their dinosaur ancestors Recently, Prum and his colleagues showed that an ancient, 47-million-year-old bird had...

Oct 31, 2009

Female Wild Horses Stick Together

Wild mares that form strong social bonds with other mares produce more foals than those that don’t, researchers have found, in what may be the first documented link between “friendship” and reproductive success outside of primates. The study followed bands of feral horses in the Kaimanawa Mountains of New Zealand...

Oct 31, 2009

Pearls Cultured from Conchs

The queen conch, a marine snail, lures shell collectors with its unique, spire-shaped shell, but the mollusk also produces lustrous, deep-pink pearls. For years, people have attempted, with little success, to farm such pearls. Now, scientists say they have developed the first reliable technique for culturing conch pearls. The scientists...

Oct 31, 2009

Really Rare Rhinos Found by Dung-Sniffing Dogs

We all know dogs like to smell just about everything, including other animals' poo. Now scientists have figured out how to put the canines' odd pastimes to work to help sniff out the dung of endangered rhinos in Vietnam. The collected dung will help scientists to figure out how many...