Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2009

Feathers Tied to Origin of Dinosaurs

Feathers and other feather-like stuff are known in several so-called saurischian dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs and maniraptors — the ancestors to modern birds. Now, feather-like structures have been found for the first time in dinosaurs other than saurischians. The finding upends paleontological thinking about feathers, suggesting they might go back to...

Feb 28, 2009

Bronx Zoo Fights for Funding with Video Starring Porcupine

The agency in charge of the Bronx Zoo has released a video starring a porcupine named Wednesday to rally support for full funding of New York State's zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums in fiscal year 2010. Currently, 76 zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums in the state share about $9 million...

Feb 28, 2009

Fish Oil Could Curb Cow Flatulence

Cows break wind a lot, and their flatulence fills the air with methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In fact, the EPA estimates that roughly 28 percent of all methane emissions related to human activity come from methane-producing bacteria in the rumens of domestic cattle, sheep and goats and other livestock...

Feb 28, 2009

Long-Necked Dinos Hung Their Heads

Imagine having a 29-foot neck. You might want to hang your head. So it was with some sauropods in the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. Though paleontologists have long thought the creatures used their necks for tree-top foraging, a new study claims doing so would have been impractical....

Jan 31, 2009

Ancient Whales Gave Birth on Land

More than 47 million years ago, a whale was about to give birth to her young … on land. That's according to skeletal remains of a pregnant cetacean whose fetus was positioned head-down as is the case for land mammals but not aquatic whales. The teeth of the fetus were...

Jan 31, 2009

'Seuss-like' Sea Creatures Discovered

A newly identified species of carnivorous sea squirt lurks in the deep sea off Australia, where it traps and devours meaty prey swimming past. The deep-sea resident, along with two other marine species that are new to science, were discovered by an international team of scientists during a month-long voyage...

Jan 31, 2009

Giant Flying Reptiles Had Bird-Like Air Sacs

Long before birds took flight, giant reptiles called pterosaurs dominated the skies. Their wingspans varied widely, ranging from that of a sparrow to that of a Cessna. A study last month suggests the birds, some as tall as giraffes, got airborne by virtue of a leap-frog maneuver, relying on all...

Jan 31, 2009

Economic Recession Means Fewer Shark Attacks

Shark attacks are on the decline due to the current economic downturn, a biologist speculated today. In 2008, attacks worldwide dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said ichthyologist George Burgess of the University of Florida. Burgess...

Jan 31, 2009

Strange Fish Has See-Through Head

A bizarre deep-water fish called the barreleye has a transparent head and tubular eyes. Since the fish's discovery in 1939, biologists have known the eyes were very good at collecting light. But their shape seemed to leave the fish with tunnel vision. Now scientists say the eyes rotate, allowing the...

Dec 31, 2008

How We Get Our Bearings

Research has suggested that animals and young children mainly rely on geometric cues (lengths, distances, angles) to help them get reoriented after a change of scene. Human adults, however, can also make use of feature cues (color, texture, landmarks) to get a sense of where they are. But which method...

Dec 31, 2008

Dinosaur Wore Primitive Down Coat

The evolution of the flashy down coat has been traced back to 125 million-year-old dinosaur fossils. The feathers were worn by Beipiaosaurus, which is a therizinosaur, small-headed theropods with long necks and giant claws. Most of the dinosaurs' bodies were covered with short and slender feathers that, based on the...

Dec 31, 2008

Sneaky Fish Love Caviar

He's quite handsome and he's got all the right moves. He looks foreign, but his courtship is intoxicating. You decide to spawn with him—oh, yes, I forgot to mention, you're a female fish—and then, the horror! Instead of fertilizing your eggs, the little devil eats them! Such are the games...

Dec 31, 2008

Scientists Zero In on Earth's Original Animal

Sea sponges have been thought by some scientists to be the most primitive living animals, the closest living things to approximate Earth's original animal, down at the base of the tree of life for the animal kingdom. But the squishy things are now being pushed aside by a group of...

Dec 31, 2008

Cows with Names Make More Milk

Researchers in the UK say cows with names make 3.4 percent more milk in a year than cows that just feel, well, like cows. There seems to be more than just names involved, however. The study, involving 516 dairy farmers and published online Tuesday by the journal Anthrozoos, found that...

Nov 30, 2010

Being Bullied Has Its Benefits for Groundhogs

Playing the scapegoat for bullying can actually boost a groundhog's chances of passing on its genes, researchers have found. That's because the victimized animal often enjoys being at the center of a huge social network – a position that has benefits beyond the costs of being bullied. This tactic may...