Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2006

Frog Hops Back into Existence

Survivors of a frog species that was thought to be extinct have been found. The survivors, discovered in the mountains of Columbia, might be the last holdouts of the painted frog (Atelopus ebenoides marinkellei). Scientists are now racing to protect them. Other clutches of the frogs have suffered a lethal...

Mar 31, 2006

Catfish Hunt on Land

You might think a catfish on land would fare as well as an elephant on roller-skates, but a new study reveals they slither around and adeptly catch insect meals [Video]. The finding helps scientists imagine how ancient fish made their first hunting trips ashore prior to evolving into land creatures....

Mar 31, 2006

Millions of Years Ago, Snakes Were Hip

Once upon a time, snakes had legs. A new discovery reveals at least one had hips, too. The newfound fossil could help scientists piece together the murky evolutionary history of snakes. Until now, the prevailing thought was that early snakes were already lacking legs when they slithered out of water...

Feb 28, 2006

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Debate Heats Up

Last June researchers triumphantly announced the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker, thought extinct for nearly 60 years. But another group of ornithologists said a video used to identify the bird was too fuzzy and that plumage color patterns don't rule out the bird being a common pileated woodpecker. The original...

Feb 28, 2006

Grammar Revealed in the Love Songs of Whales

The love song of a humpback whale sounds magnificently free-flowing and improvised to the casual human listener. But fresh mathematical analysis of shows there are complex grammatical rules. Using syntax, the whales combine sounds into phrases, which they further weave into hours-long melodies packed with information. Although the researchers say...

Feb 28, 2006

How Songbirds Change Tune

New research reveals that songbirds add style to their songs using the same mechanism as humans. In humans, an ah sound originating from the vocal cords can be turned into an ooh by moving the lips, tongue, and jaw. Birds mostly communicate using a variety of up and down sweeping...

Feb 28, 2006

Scientists Debate Dinosaur Demise

The ancient asteroid that slammed into the Gulf of Mexico and purportedly ended the reign of the dinosaurs occurred 300,000 years too early, according to a controversial new analysis of melted rock ejected from the impact site. The standard theory states that a giant asteroid about 6 miles wide smashed...

Jan 31, 2006

Oldest Known Tyrannosaur Found

Paleontologists have unearthed two fossilized dinosaurs believed to be the oldest ancestors of the tyrannosaur family, researchers announced today. The new species had cranial crests and were likely covered in feathers, but were only a third the size of their famous cousin, Tyrannosaurus rex. Still, the discovery sets back the...

Jan 31, 2006

Marine Mammals Suffer Human Diseases

ST. LOUIS—Parasites from cat feces are causing deadly brain damage in California sea otters. A combination of toxic chemicals and herpes virus is killing off California sea lions. And toxic algae blooms are contributing to record manatee deaths in Florida. All of these animals live near coastlines, spending a majority...

Jan 31, 2006

Cannibalism Rife in Mormon Cricket Swarms

Every year, millions of Mormon crickets swarm in a frenzied search for food. Turns out the dinner plate is often heaped with their slower brethren. Mormon crickets aren't actually crickets, but shield-backed katydids, a type of insect more closely related to grasshoppers. However, when Mormon settlers moved into Utah in...

Dec 31, 2005

Dog Deaths Surpass 100 Despite Toxic Pet Food Recall

At least 100 dogs in the United States have been killed in recent weeks by toxic pet food despite a recall of the products, scientists said today. Some 19 brands of Diamond, Country Value and Professional dog foods have been recalled. But many pet owners are not aware of the...

Dec 31, 2005

Frisky Ferrets Bouncing Back

Thanks to conservation efforts and some exceptionally frisky behavior in the wild, the endangered black-footed ferret is making a comeback. Scientists considered the furry creatures extinct as recently as the 1970s, but 120 of the ferrets were found in Wyoming in the mid-1980s. Then in 1985 two disease outbreaks wiped...

Dec 31, 2005

Ant School: The First Formal Classroom Found in Nature

Ants teach other ants how to find food using a poking and prodding technique called tandem running, a new study reveals. Researchers say the experiment reveals the first non-human example of formal instruction between a teacher and pupil in which there is two-way feedback and an adjustment of the course...

Dec 31, 2005

Chimps More Like Humans than Apes

While you might think of yourself as smarter than the average ape, beware: Those distant relatives of ours have a knack for evolving more quickly than we do. And by revealing this through DNA analysis, scientists have provided support for a controversial hypothesis that chimpanzees are more closely related to...

Nov 30, 2007

Incredible Batch of Rare and New Species Discovered

Two species of primates that are of global conservation concern, eight new species of katydids, a critically endangered frog species, 17 rare butterfly species and wild birds such as the brown-cheeked hornbill are among the finds of an expedition to a forest reserve in Ghana. Scientists exploring one of the...