Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 7, 2023

Male spider mites 'undress' females by pulling off their skin before copulating

When male spider mites are ready to mate, they strip off the skin of maturing females as part of a freakish mating ritual. Scientists in Austria uncovered the creepy act for the first time while studying spider mites, the dust speck-size relatives of arachnids such as spiders and scorpions, in...

Mar 23, 2015

In Photos: Giant Amphibian Ruled Ancient Rivers

Researchers have discovered a mass graveyard filled with the bones of a giant amphibian that lived between 220 million and 230 million years ago in what is today southern Portugal. Here's a look at the dig site, bones and what the creature would have looked like so long ago. Images...

Nov 19, 2015

'Flying' Tadpoles & Fleeing Fish Win Prestigious Photo Contest

What does the world look like to a tadpole? That's what one photographer recently asked before jumping into a canal to capture the baby amphibian's perspective on camera. The photo he took came out swimmingly, earning him first place in a photography competition hosted by the Royal Society, London. The...

Nov 3, 2016

Tadpoles Prefer Vegetarian Meals During Heat Waves

When it's just too darn hot, amphibian young adapt by changing their diet, weathering heat with vegetarian fare. In a new study, tadpoles representing three frog species were exposed to mock heat waves in the laboratory to test how amphibians in the wild might respond to warmer-than-average conditions due to...

Mar 30, 2017

Hind Sight: Blind Tadpoles See Via Eyes in Tails

If you've ever wished you had eyes on the back of your head, meet the amphibian with eyes on its butt: Researchers have enabled tadpoles to see through eyes grafted onto their tails. The project represents a promising step forward in the world of organ transplants and regenerative medicine, the...

May 15, 2017

To Avoid Being Eaten, Tadpoles Aren't Choosy About Escape Vehicle

Newborn poison frogs of Peru have quite an appetite. If left home alone in their hatching pool, the ravenous tadpoles will eat each other. To keep the tadpoles from gorging on their siblings, their doting father will carry them one at a time on his back and drop them in...

May 27, 2020

Meet Goliath, a Massive Tadpole as Long as Your Face

UPDATE: The tadpole titan affectionately known as Goliath died in 2019, according to a tweet written on May 26, 2020 by herpetologist Earyn McGee; she introduced Twitter to Goliath in 2018, when this article was originally published. Scientists with the Southwestern Research Station in Arizona preserved the tadpole and are...

May 19, 2022

What's the difference between a frog and a toad?

The main difference between frogs and toads can be seen in their hind legs and skin. Both frogs and toads are amphibians that belong to the scientific order Anura within the animal kingdom. In general, toads have warty, drier skin with heavyset bodies and stumpy legs, whereas frogs have silky...

Jul 29, 2023

Axolotl: The adorable amphibian that can regrow its body and stay looking young forever

Name: Mexican salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum) also known as an axolotl Where it lives: Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco, near Mexico City What it eats: a variety of small invertebrates, along with some small fish Why it's awesome: Despite its rarity, the axolotl's incredibly cute looks has made it one of...

Oct 18, 2023

Toxic pigment that causes red hair discovered in 10 million-year-old frog fossil

Paleontologists have discovered the earliest molecular evidence of the toxic pigment that causes red hair in the fossil record — in 10 million-year-old frog fossils. The ancient amphibians had preserved fragments of pheomelanin (also spelled phaeomelanin), a yellowish-red pigment that produces ginger-colored hair in animals, including humans, according to a...

Dec 30, 2023

Paradoxical frog: The giant tadpole that turns into a little frog

Name: Paradoxical frog (Pseudis paradoxa), also known as shrinking frog Where it lives: Northern South America and Trinidad What it eats: Invertebrates, mainly insects Why it's awesome: This rather odd species is unusual because it gets smaller as it grows up — it is notably larger in the larval stage...

Apr 11, 2012

Group Aims to Bring World's Most Endangered Turtles Back from the Brink

Good news if you belong to one of the world's most endangered turtle species: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is doubling down on its efforts to save threatened tortoises and freshwater turtles from extinction. More than half of the approximately 330 species that belong to these groups are threatened by...

May 17, 2012

Ancient Turtle Was as Big as Small Car

A turtle the size of a small car once roamed what is now South America 60 million years ago, suggests its fossilized remains. Discovered in a coal mine in Colombia in 2005, the turtle was given the name Carbonemys cofrinii, which means coal turtle. It wasn't until now that the...

Jun 20, 2012

Loggerhead Turtle Migration Follows Magnetic Map

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Nesting season for loggerhead turtles — a threatened species — is in full swing on the sandy beaches between Florida and North Carolina. Nesting began this year in the first days of April, several...

Jun 22, 2012

Baby Tortoise Hatches at San Diego Zoo

A Madagascar spider tortoise has successfully hatched at the San Diego Zoo, the zoo announced this week. The zoo is home to two males and two females of this species; the sex of the newly hatched tortoise is not yet known. The zoo has been working with this species since...