Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2020

Flying fish: Real fish, but not really flying

In warm ocean waters around the world, you may see a strange sight: A fish leaping from the water and soaring dozens of meters before returning to the ocean's depths. Early Mediterranean sailors thought these flying fish returned to the shore at night to sleep, and therefore called this family...

Sep 30, 2020

How the same tech in your Nintendo Wii is tracking wild and wily wolverines

For ecologists studying wolverines — mid-sized carnivores found across the boreal forest and Arctic tundra of North America, across Europe's Nordic mainland, and throughout the Russian north — technology that you'd find in a smartphone is offering an unparalleled glimpse of how these animals behave. Twenty-five years ago, the only...

Jul 31, 2020

What is taxonomy?

If you saw a feathered, two-footed critter on the lawn, what would you tell people you saw? A robin? A blackbird? How about a dinosaur? From a taxonomist's perspective, you couldn't go wrong with dinosaur. According to taxonomy, the discipline that assigns official scientific names to all known organisms, all...

Jun 30, 2020

Scientists accidentally create 'impossible' hybrid fish

It shouldn't have been possible, but it was: The birth of long-nosed, spiky-finned hybrids of Russian sturgeons and American paddlefish. Hungarian scientists announced in May in the journal Genes that they had accidentally created a hybrid of the two endangered species, which they have dubbed the sturddlefish. There are about...

Jun 30, 2020

Albatrosses: Facts about the biggest flying birds

Albatrosses are big, majestic birds that can be found soaring above most of the world’s oceans. These frequent fliers are known for spending months in the air without touching down, as well as having some unique mating arrangements. However, thanks to harmful fishing techniques and predation by invasive species, albatrosses...

Jun 30, 2020

Ruthless Australian 'assassin flies' named for Thor, Deadpool — and Stan Lee

Quick: Think of the most heroic animal on Earth. If you said the fly — that notoriously annoying insect that eats garbage, breeds in dung and transmits disease all over the world — then you are on the same page as the Australian biology community. Researchers at Australia's federal science...

May 31, 2020

Mysterious scars on Hawaiian shark could be sign of giant squid attack

A rare, multispecies brawl unfolded recently in the deep ocean off the coast of Hawaii. In one corner, an oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) — a 7-foot-long (2.1 meters) predator capable of diving up to 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface in pursuit of prey. In the other corner…...

Apr 30, 2020

Dogs are being trained to sniff out COVID-19 in humans

Scientists are training dogs to identify COVID-19 by following their noses. A new program at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) is putting noses to the grindstone for disease detection. Researchers are working with dogs to see if the canines' superior sniffers can help with early...

Apr 30, 2020

Ancient 'shapeshifting vampire demon' anchovy had saber tooth and fangs

Scientists have discovered the remains of two ancient fish that sported fanged teeth on their lower jaws and a huge, single saber tooth on the top. These now-extinct fish are so weird, there's no other known fish — living or dead — that look like them. The fishes' teeth are...

Jan 31, 2020

5 reasons hyenas like Harley Quinn's 'Bruce' are amazing

D.C. Comics' manic pixie criminal Harley Quinn gets it: Hyenas are delightful. In the movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020, Warner Bros. Pictures), Ms. Quinn (Margot Robbie) acquires some new partners in crime, including a large and very intimidating hyena that she bestows...

Jan 31, 2020

Madagascar's bizarre aye-aye has 6 fingers on each hand, scientists discover

The aye-aye is one of nature's most fascinatingly bizarre creatures. Native to Madagascar, this lemur is the largest nocturnal primate in the world and has unique features that set it apart. It has bat‐like ears that allow it to echo-locate and rodent-like ever-growing incisors — both unique among primates. It...

Dec 31, 2019

Dying Fish Revealed Congo Is World's Deepest River

SAN FRANCISCO — A mysterious case of dying fish in the lower Congo River helped scientists discover that this body is the deepest river on the planet. It's also a place where raging rapids, powerful currents and even submerged waterfalls divide the water, much as mountain ranges can separate habitats...

Dec 31, 2019

Nutria: The invasive, unusually large rodents

Nutria, also known as coypu, are large rodents that live in areas with lots of freshwater. Despite sometimes being called swamp rats, nutria are not rats. These mammals are native to South America and were introduced into the United States between 1899 and 1930 through the fur industry, according to...

Nov 30, 2021

55-foot-long Triassic sea monster discovered in Nevada

A sea monster that lived during the early dinosaur age is so unexpectedly colossal, it reveals that its kind grew to gigantic sizes extremely quickly, evolutionarily speaking at least. The discovery suggests that such ichthyosaurs — a group of fish-shaped marine reptiles that inhabited the dinosaur-era seas — grew to...

Oct 31, 2021

Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes?

Zebras are iconic for their distinctive coats, but have you ever wondered whether zebras are white with black stripes or black with white stripes? The stunning black-and-white coloration of the zebra's hide stands out in stark contrast with the dry, brown-and-green, treeless grasslands and savannah woodlands of their home territories...