Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

May 31, 2013

Ancient Dinobird Wore Black and White

A transitional species that represents a link between dinosaurs and birds may have sported pale feathers that were dark at the tips, a new study suggests. For the study, detailed in the June 13 issue of the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, researchers used an X-ray beam to identify ancient...

May 31, 2013

Fish Diseases Threaten Food Supply In Warm Climates

(ISNS) -- A rise in fish farms has meant cheap, fast-growing protein to feed the world's growing human population. But a new study suggests that countries located at lower latitudes – many of which rely heavily on fish farming – may be most at risk for fish disease outbreaks. The...

May 31, 2013

Animal Sex: How Ants Do It

Ants are social insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera, which also includes wasps and bees. And though people typically don't think of ants as flying insects, ant sex is often a crowded, aerial event not so different from the mating flights of honeybees. Ant society is divided into several castes,...

Apr 30, 2013

Dwarf Lemurs Hibernate Like Bears

The western fat-tailed dwarf lemur was the only primate thought to be a hibernator. Now scientists have discovered that two other lemurs in Madagascar can put their lives on pause, too, by entering seven-month snoozefests. To the casual observer, it looks for all the world as if the animals are...

Apr 30, 2013

Naval Exercises Take Deadly Toll on Dolphins: Op-Ed

Michael Jasny, director of the NRDC Marine Mammal Project, contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. On June 9, 2008, at least 60 dolphins stranded along the coast of Cornwall, England, in what was by far the largest common dolphin mortality ever seen in British waters. For...

Apr 30, 2013

Dogs Show IQ Tests Aren't So Smart (Op-Ed)

Vanessa Woods is a research scientist and Brian Hare is an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. They are the authors of The Genius of Dogs and the founders of Dognition. They contributed this article to LiveScience’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. When Harvard graduate and Heritage Foundation...

Mar 31, 2013

Bears' Comeback in Nevada Poses a Problem

Thirty years ago, bears were a rare sight in Nevada — so rare that Glen Griffith, then-director of the state's Department of Fish and Game, declared in 1979 that Nevada didn't have any bears at all, except for the occasional one that ambled across the western border from California. But...

Mar 31, 2013

Travels of Pregnant Great White Sharks Revealed

For the first time, migrating great white sharks have been tagged and their movements around the oceans tracked for years, as opposed to the few months they have previously been tracked, according to a researcher. Scientists used special satellite tags that tracked several sharks from a specific great white population...

Mar 31, 2013

Secret Population of Orangutans Found

A population of 200 of the world's rarest orangutans was found tucked away in the forests of the island of Borneo, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). All subspecies of Bornean orangutans are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But scientists estimate just 3,000...

Mar 31, 2013

How Red Squirrels Are Like Tiger Moms

Red squirrel moms know how to give their offspring an early edge in a crowded forest. New research shows the animals can speed up the growth rates of their pups to help ensure they'll be able to compete for turf when populations are dense. Surprisingly, stress, not more food, is...

Mar 31, 2013

Why Elk Are Robbing Birds

Sonya Auer, of the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, recently won the Elton Prize, from the British Ecological Society for her research and writing. She contributed this article to Live Science’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Plants and animals in a given area form an...

Mar 31, 2013

Zombie Worms Drill Whale Bones with Acid

So-called zombie worms — and yes, they actually exist — like to munch on whale bones for dinner. The creatures also use the bones for shelter. Spread throughout the world's oceans, zombie worms are quite adept at making the bones of whales and other large marine animals look like Swiss...

Feb 28, 2013

How Cute Animal Videos Could Help Science

The Internet is a friendly place for cute and weird animal behaviors caught on camera, from foxes jumping on trampolines to dogs playing with deer. But beyond entertaining the masses, these amateur viral videos sometimes document behaviors that are rarely seen, and they could help scientists understand how species interact...

Jan 31, 2013

Dogs Can Spot Fellow Furballs in a Crowd

Dogs can pick out the faces of other dogs in a virtual lineup of humans and other animals, a new study shows. And it doesn't matter if it's a German shepherd looking at a standard poodle. Dogs still know who's one of their own, researchers say. Previous research has shown...

Jan 31, 2013

Chimps Have Better Short-term Memory Than Humans

Boston — Chimpanzees may have more smarts than humans, at least regarding short-term memories, new research suggests. A Japanese researcher presented a video showing the remarkable abilities of a chimpanzee named Ayumu, here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Thursday (Feb. 14)....