The reproduction of giant sea spiders in Antarctica has been a puzzle for over a century. Studying their habits requires deep dives under thick Antarctic ice in frigid ocean temperatures. Now, a group of scientists may have finally solved the 140-year-old mystery of why the giant sea spiders lay their eggs on the bottom of […]
Bug-munching plant turns insect nurseries into death traps
Earth is home to some pretty gnarly carnivorous plants that will use sticky digestive juices to eat bugs and other plants that will even trick flies into mating with them. New research into the plant genus Arisaema points to an unusual evolutionary process within the plant kingdom. The relationship between a species of the carnivorous […]
Fire is driving animals’ evolution
This article was originally featured on High Country News. Increasing frequent and intense fires are shaping how species change, according to a paper published last year in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. While previous research tended to focus on a blaze’s immediate impacts—Did population numbers go up or down?—scientists are starting to consider a longer timeline, said […]
New pterosaur species discovered in Scotland
Paleontologists in the United Kingdom have discovered a new species of pterosaur on Scotand’s Isle of Skye. This reptile lived roughly 168 to 166 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic Era, when scientists previously thought that pterosaurs were only in present-day China. So the remains of a flying reptile showing up even in dinosaur-rich […]
Neanderthals and modern humans intermingled in Europe 45,000 years ago
About a decade ago, the theory that Neanderthals had bred with Homo sapiens outside of Africa rocked the anthropological, archeological, and genetics worlds. Some scientists looked down on these now extinct human cousins, but quickly learned that they themselves could share as much as four percent of their DNA with Neanderthals. The question of how […]
This spider pretends to be an ant, but not well enough to avoid being eaten
If Spiderman and Antman took their DNA and mixed it together in a petri dish, the result might be something like the spider species Siler collingwoodi (S. collingwoodi). This tiny, colorful, jumping spider found in China and Japan uses a combination of camouflage and some award-worthy mimicry to deter some hungry predators. In a stressful […]
A ‘butterfly tree of life’ reveals the origins of these beautiful insects
Up until 100 million years ago, butterflies were night creatures. Only nocturnal moths were living on Earth until some rogue moths began to fly during the day. These enterprising members of the order Lepidoptera took advantage of the nectar-rich flowers that had co-evolved with bees by flying during the day. From there, close to 19,000 […]
A scientific exploration of big juicy butts
BUMS. HEINIES. FANNIES. DERRIERES. Few muscles in the human body carry as much cultural clout as the gluteus maximus. “Butts are a bellwether,” writes journalist Heather Radke in her 2022 book Butts: A Backstory. Radke goes on to explain that our feelings about our hindquarters often have more to do with race, gender, and sex […]
When a Jurassic giant died, predatory dinos probably feasted on the carcass
Scavenging has been maligned as a food gathering strategy and is generally associated with animals like vultures and hyenas. Millions of years ago, carnivorous dinosaurs may have evolved this technique of taking meat from dead carcasses too. The findings are described in a study published November 1 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. [Related: Dinosaur […]
This Jurassic-era ‘sea murderer’ was among the first of its kind
With its 19 feet-long torpedo-shaped body and long teeth the newly-described Lorrainosaurus was a fearsome mega predator. The fossilized remains of a 170-million-year-old marine reptile is the oldest-known pliosaur and dates back to the Jurassic era. The discovery is described in a study published October 16 in the journal Scientific Reports. [Related: Millions of years […]