A recent study published in PNAS reveals that researchers have successfully retrieved ancient DNA from Caribbean parrots. By comparing this DNA with sequences from contemporary…
While many associate cattle with iconic American imagery such as cowboys, cattle drives, and vast ranches, these animals were not native to the American continents….
Wormlike Animals Are First Amphibians Shown To Pass Microbes to Their Offspring A new study on caecilians—a type of amphibian—reveals that their unique skin-feeding behavior…
Unlike crocodiles, turtles, lizards, dinosaurs, and fish that possess bony plates and scales, mammals have long since exchanged their ancestral armor for an insulating layer…
With greenhouse gas emissions causing Earth’s climate to steadily heat up, we’re seeing an increasing number of extreme and anomalous weather events. But predicting and…
Approximately five and a half million years ago, a number of gomphotheres, now-extinct relatives of elephants, met their end in or near a river in…
Roughly 100 million years ago, a pioneering group of moths began to venture out during the day instead of night, seizing the opportunity presented by…
Mezcal is a distilled spirit produced from the cooked and fermented sap of agave plants. The majority of mezcal drinks, including all tequila varieties, are…
Researchers found that Luna moth tails primarily serve to misdirect bat attacks, with no additional mating advantages or increased visibility to bird predators. In a…
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola used to host 11 different rodent species, but now only one remains in the island’s two countries of Haiti and…
A new study reveals ferns’ history of DNA hoarding and kleptomania. Ferns are infamous for having an enormous number of chromosomes and massive amounts of…
The snake was recently spotted for the first time in four years. After a four-year absence, the rarest snake in North America, the Tantilla oolitica…
Ancient DNA from an American domesticated horse lends credence to shipwreck folklore. An abandoned Caribbean colony discovered centuries later and a case of mistaken identity…
With some home security software and a little ingenuity, researchers have developed an inexpensive device that will allow them to study the behavior and activity…
Plants are DNA hoarders. Adhering to the maxim of never throwing anything out that might be useful later, they often duplicate their entire genome and…
An international research team has described a new species of Oculudentavis, providing further evidence that the animal first identified as a hummingbird-sized dinosaur was actually…
A more reliable way of estimating the size of megalodon shows the extinct shark may have been bigger than previously thought, measuring up to 65…
Scientists have long known that frogs are oddballs when it comes to teeth. Some have tiny teeth on their upper jaws and the roof of…