Animal science
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We’re edging closer to seeing a live mammoth for the first time. Colossal Biosciences, a company dedicated to the controversial-but-unquestionably-cool goal of resurrecting extinct species, has made a breakthrough in creating elephant stem cells.
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A tiny, newly-discovered minnow has measured louder than gunshots, jet engines or most competition-grade car stereos on the decibel scale – which raises the question: how on Earth was it not discovered earlier? It hasn't exactly been discreet.
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Despite how cute 2001's Finding Nemo's clownfish was, these colorful animals have a dark side. Scientists have found that they will 'count' another clownfish's white stripes, and will viciously attack any visitor that happens to look just like them.
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Scientists have had a career-making moment, capturing on film a dolphin with such a rare skin condition that only five other recorded examples exist. The dramatic black-and-white look, or piebaldism, has never been seen on a dolphin in Australian waters.
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It’s a question we’ve all wondered at some point: why do insects spend their evenings swarming around artificial lights? Scientists have now come up with an answer using high-speed cameras and motion capture tech to map out their flight paths in 3D.
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It’s easy to forget that most animals don’t see the world the way humans do. In fact, many perceive colors that are invisible to us. But now, for the first time, scientists have found a way to capture footage as seen by animals, and it's mesmerizing.
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Scientists have long puzzled over why some dinosaurs had feathers and wings long before they evolved the ability of flight. Experiments with a robot dinosaur may now have revealed the answer – they used them for hunting.
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Pseudoscorpions have been seen hitching a ride on a true scorpion, and it’s the first time this interspecific rideshare has been observed. While they have eight legs of their own, these tiny insects prefer to sit back and relax on their road trips.
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Genetic and isotopic analyses have pieced together a remarkable narrative of a 20-year-old female woolly mammoth, detailing her health, status, travels and ultimate ending in interior Alaska – even though her story is now more than 14,000 years old.
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The sex life of a tiny Australian marsupial known as an antechinus is already pretty bizarre. But now its mating season has gotten even stranger – and darker – thanks to the introduction of cannibalism, as observed by field researchers.
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A house made of mucus may not sound like a desirable abode, yet researchers have found that the crafty animal creating such an unappealing structure may help engineers design cheaper and more efficient pumps for industrial uses like water filtration.
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With rapidly advancing techniques to assess fossils, we've never been in a better position to piece together Earth's early days. While there are still plenty of mysteries dating back millions of years, in 2023 we solved a few – and discovered even more.
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