Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

May 31, 2012

Snakes' Scales Propel Them Up Tree Trunks

Without legs, snakes must get creative to slither up trees, and new research suggests they use the scales covering their bodies to make such climbs. Their scales and body muscles work together to push against the bark on the tree as they inch upward, the researchers said. An important and...

May 31, 2012

Citizen Science Programs That Are 'For the Birds'

This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. If you care about the biology, ecology and conservation of birds and want to learn more about those topics, consider joining the more than 200,000 volunteers, or so-called citizen scientists, who contribute each year...

May 31, 2012

Dolphin Genes Hold Clues to Animal Intelligence

Evolution-wise, bottlenose dolphins have left their mammalian brothers in the dust, and new research is showing what genes they changed to do it. These genes include those involved in brain and metabolism. These changes could be why dolphins are known to be exceptionally smart, able to use tools, recognize themselves...

Apr 30, 2012

Dolphins Help Fishermen Catch Fish

A visitor might stumble upon a strange sight in Laguna, Brazil, if they went down to the shore. Here, the local fishermen rely on dolphins to help them with their yearly fish catch. New research has found that just one local group of about 20 dolphins works with the fishermen,...

Apr 30, 2012

The Bigger the Eyes the Faster the Beast, Study Finds

The fastest runners in the animal kingdom have some of the biggest eyes for their body size, researchers have found. Turns out, often the bigger the peepers the better the eyesight, which is beneficial when moving quickly. Eye size is one of the most important factors for understanding visual abilities...

Apr 30, 2012

Manta Rays' Deep-Sea Secrets Revealed

Updated Monday, May 14 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Very little is known about giant manta rays, fish up to 25 feet wide that glide through the ocean like giant underwater bats. Now, in the first study using satellite tracking of the creatures, scientists have teased out a few secrets, including...

Apr 30, 2012

Tyrannosaur Skeleton For Sale, But Ownership Is Questioned

The origin of a rare tyrannosaur skeleton, now sitting mounted and prepared at an auction house in New York City, has been questioned, with some saying the specimen is from Mongolia; if so, that would mean it entered the United States illegally. The rare Tyrannosaurus bataar — standing 8 feet...

Apr 30, 2012

Despite Legal Challenge, Tyrannosaur Sells for $1 million

NEW YORK — A nearly complete tyrannosaur skeleton has sold for just over $1 million, in spite of a call to halt its auction because the fossils may have been taken illegally from Mongolia. During an auction this afternoon (May 20), Heritage Auctions sold the Tyrannosaurus bataar specimen to an...

Apr 30, 2012

Why Dogs' Origins Are Still Mysterious

Humans' close relationship to dogs has so far obscured their history so much that it's not yet possible to use genetic data to tease out the details of their domestication, new research indicates. Their complicated history involves being interbred, as well as transported around the world. There's a central irony...

Apr 30, 2012

Beyond the Tyrannosaur: Other Auction Specimens Alarm Scientists

While the nearly complete tyrannosaur skeleton up for auction on Sunday (May 20) is now the subject of a legal battle, other fossils sold that day may also have been smuggled out of Mongolia, paleontologists say. These include teeth belonging to the same species of dinosaur, a Tarbosaurus bataar, and...

Mar 31, 2012

Fuzzy Dinosaur Fishes at Dawn in New Paleo-Art

A paleontologist-artist has revealed what a meat-eating dinosaur called Unenlagia (whose name means half-bird) may have looked like when it roamed the Earth some 85 million years ago during the late Cretaceous. Paleontologist, consultant and scientific illustrator Scott Hartman depicts Unenlagia fishing in the early morning glow from the sun....

Mar 31, 2012

How Gravity Messes with Honeybees' Waggle Dance

Honeybees are known to communicate in a dance language called the waggle dance to point out the location of resources that keep the hive alive, but new research reveals that gravity can mess with this dance's accuracy. The waggle dance is an important part of how they provide for the...

Mar 31, 2012

Image Gallery: Russia's Beautiful Killer Whales

White Orca (Image credit: © Far East Russia Orca Project) A mature all-white male orca, the only one of its kind known, has been spotted in the North Pacific off the east coast of Russia, scientists announced Monday (April 23). After seeing its towering white dorsal fin breaking through the...

Mar 31, 2012

Strange Organism Has Unique Roots in the Tree of Life

Talk about extended family: A single-celled organism in Norway has been called mankind's furthest relative. It is so far removed from the organisms we know that researchers claim it belongs to a new base group, called a kingdom, on the tree of life. We have found an unknown branch of...

Feb 29, 2012

Freeze-Dried Pets Comfort Grieving Owners

Mike McCullough never intended to start freeze-drying beloved pets for grieving owners. But more than a decade ago, a friend of a friend asked the Fort Loudon, Penn., taxidermist to save his beloved dog from the grave or cremation by preserving the animal instead. McCullough agreed. Then he talked to...