Think of the tropics, and you’ll no doubt picture lush, dense greenery with huge leaves. Venture towards the poles or arid regions, however, and the leaves on vegetation become small and narrow. So it’s easy to assume plants evolved different sized leaves to cope with differences in temperature and moisture. Now scientists have a clearer

Our increased use of antidepressants is having a knock-on effect on nature: scientists have found evidence of these drugs in the brain tissue of 10 different species of fish in the Great Lakes region. Not only does it threaten the biodiversity of the lakes, the researchers say, it can also cause harmful changes to the

As a researcher who works on fruit flies, I often get asked how to get them out of someone’s kitchen. This happens to fly researchers often enough that we sit around fly conferences (these actually exist) and complain about getting asked this question. Meanwhile, we watch the same fruit flies buzz around our beers instead

A prey-killing mechanism so imperceptibly deadly it evolved at least five times in different kinds of ants has been caught on camera by scientists – just barely. Myrmoteras, a rarely seen genus of trap-jaw ants from South-East Asia, snap their jaws shut on unsuspecting prey at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour (50

Palaeontologists have identified the largest ‘sea dragon’ of its kind in the fossil record, after discovering the mislabelled remains of an ancient ocean dweller from 200 million years ago. The specimen, the largest representative of the Ichthyosaurus genus on record, was a kind of marine reptile commonly taken to be a swimming dinosaur – but

Residents of the Houston area affected by Hurricane Harvey have spotted an unusual risk in the floodwaters: colonies of fire ants that have joined together to form floating rafts. Fire ants are an invasive species native to South America, and they have successfully colonised the southern US. Whenever a major storm blows through, bringing flooding,

The journey to harvest hallucinogenic honey produced by Himalayan giant honey bees is far from easy. In eastern Nepal, select members of the Kulung people scale bamboo rope ladders up 300-foot (91 metre) cliffs to get it. They ward off swarms of the bees with smoke from burning grass, which is attached to a pole,

Changes to the Turkish secondary school science curriculum that has been expected to take effect by 2019 will be in place next month, according to recent updates on the controversial measure. While the government sees this as the foundation for a simpler, “values-based” education system, for many in the politically-charged nation it’s a troubling sign

I watched the solar eclipse on my parents’ farm in Wisconsin and got a front row seat to wacky animal behaviour during the celestial event of the century. At the eclipse’s peak, when the moon was covering about 83 percent of the sun, chipmunks popped their heads out of their burrows, and a pheasant started

After years of research, scientists have worked out how some bacteria are able to survive inside amoebae – by stabbing them with microscopic daggers to prevent digestion. This miniature game of biological swordplay was discovered through a new method where amoebae are frozen to minus 180°C (minus 292°F) and then gradually chiselled with a focussed

Scientists have unearthed a new class of chemical reaction which had been overlooked since it was first predicted to exist almost 100 years ago. It is thought this could open the possibility for new engine designs and even be used to understand a range of fundamental issues around climate change and the conditions that gave

Devastating floods and landslides have hit India, Nepal, and Bangladesh over the past week, as the monsoon season has brought extremely heavy rains. Amidst reports of rising death tolls in the region, there’s one flicker of positivity – footage has emerged of trained elephants helping with the rescue efforts, as they carry people to safety

For the first time, researchers have amazingly captured the offshore calls of Gentoo penguins as they forage in the freezing waters of the Antarctic Ocean. Using miniature GoPro-style ‘penguincams’ fastened to the backs of the seabirds, the team found that vocal communication amongst these penguins is linked to group formation rather than food gathering.  

Over half a billion years ago our planet experienced the mother of all ice ages. One that not only turned Earth into a giant snow ball, but, according to new research, probably gave complex life the kick in the pants it needed to flourish. Organic molecules found trapped inside sedimentary rocks from the Australian outback

On August 1, security footage revealed that a giant tortoise named Aboo had walked out the gates of an animal park in Japan and wandered off in an unknown direction. You’d think she wouldn’t get very far, but staff were unable to locate the tortoise for more than two weeks. Worried that she may have

A dinosaur we’ve only known about for a couple of years could be the missing link between plant-eating dinosaurs and members of the theropod group, including carnivores like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. That’s based on a new analysis of the Chilesaurus dinosaur – first identified in 2015 from a fossil find in Chile, it’s intrigued

Last Friday, Hans Nilsson in Sweden finally caught sight of an elusive creature he’d been trying to capture on film for three years straight. He spoke about the experience to Swedish national radio, and just a couple days later his footage of the incredibly rare, incredibly majestic white moose is in the process of breaking

For most living things, especially those of the breathing variety, life without a good supply of oxygen isn’t much fun. Goldfish are a rather odd exception. To get through those inconvenient periods where the environment turns anoxic, fish of the genus Carassius (aka crucian carp and goldfish) have developed a neat way to survive –

Weighing nearly 70 US tons (63 tonnes), heavier than 10 adult African elephants, this dinosaur was the largest animal to ever walk on Earth, according to some scientists. This plant-eating beast first made headlines in 2014, after a rancher from Patagonia in Argentina discovered a fossil bone. Last year, the American Museum of Natural History in New York

Mining waste is having a rather peculiar effect on the evolution of a species of sea snake, which appears to be coping with an increase in heavy metals in their environment by developing a darker skin. As the first example of industrial melanism found in a marine animal, the turtle-headed sea snake (Emydocephalus annulatus) joins

To play any game, you need to have a basic grasp of the rules. But the way we learn and process those rules is a fascinating process in itself – one that scientists can use to investigate learning in animals. Now scientists have demonstrated that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) can learn the relationship between the three

Despite what you might’ve seen in 1950s monster movies, it’s difficult to raise mutant ants. For years biologists have altered the genetics of organisms as varied as mice and rice. Mutant fruit flies are a labouratory staple. But ants’ complex life cycle hampered efforts to grow genetically engineered ants – until now.   On Thursday, two independent research

A pair of fossils discovered in China reveal that ancestors to modern mammals were already taking to the air at least 160 million years ago. The find suggests the group of animals that would eventually evolve into everything from bats to belugas were adapting to fill diverse niches quite early in their history, setting the

Becoming a guide dog is hard. Not all pups have what it takes to navigate complex landscapes without pausing for hydrants, dog-butts, and taunting cats. New research adds support to what many trainers might have already suspected – puppies that receive less attention from mum are more likely to graduate guide dog training.   Guide

Becoming a guide dog is hard. Not all pups have what it takes to navigate complex landscapes without pausing for hydrants, dog-butts, and taunting cats. New research adds support to what many trainers might have already suspected – puppies that receive less attention from mum are more likely to graduate guide dog training.   Guide

In 1994, Doug Duncan was standing on the Bolivian Altiplano with of group of fellow astronomers. The scientists had come to witness a total solar eclipse, and as such, most of their gazes were turned skyward as the totality approached. That is, until a woman starting shouting, “Look down! Look down!”   “I can still

Around 500 million years ago, during the Cambrian period, Earth was undergoing some massive changes – organisms were becoming more complex, and animals were becoming more abundant. Some looked relatively normal, and some had faces that looked like butts with claws.   A new study has just been published identifying this weird creature as a 10

A strange breed of anthrax bacterium killed more than half of the dead chimps analysed in new research from Africa – and scientists say the fatal infection could wipe out the local chimp population in the Ivory Coast. As grave as the findings are, the greater implications of the Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis (Bcbva) bacterium could

The fact that nothing can be counted as something – what we humans call zero – isn’t exactly common knowledge across the animal kingdom. New research suggests the humble bee can be taught to recognise nothing as an amount, which considering they can also count as high as four, makes them veritable arthropod accountants.  

It may look like a dragon fresh off the set of Game of Thrones, but it turns out that one of the world’s best preserved dinosaurs faced some tough predators when it roamed the Cretaceous landscape some 110 million years ago. The statue-like specimen is so good that researchers were able to see the dinosaur’s

It’s no secret that animals see the world in a very different light to humans, but an international collaboration between scientists has revealed that we are on the brink of a new era when it comes to figuring out how animals see, use and manipulate colour.  The in-depth review takes a deep dive into the

Of the many variations between organisms in a species, only some of them can currently be explained by differences in their genetic code, but a new study has shed light on one of the other ways variations can occur. Researchers looking at the cichlid fish, an African species, found that how they exercise their jaws

Tales of epic ocean crossings are usually reserved for sailors with two legs, but an eight-legged odyssey millions of years ago may well be the most daring sea voyage in maritime history. The Australian trapdoor spider (Moggridgea rainbowi) was long thought to have arrived down under as a result of the breakup of the ancient

The dinosaurs that roamed Earth 66 million years ago might be gone forever, but the plants they trampled through are still with us, as a new discovery in the US shows. Scientists have come across a prehistoric plant called Lychnothamnus barbatus in North America for the first time, although it has previously been spotted in

A woman in Ohio has been saved by firefighters after making a frantic 911 emergency call to explain she was being attacked by a boa constrictor. The Sheffield Lake resident was the owner of 10 other snakes, and had rescued the 1.7-metre-long (5.5 foot) boa just the day before the attack – but that act

If you’re a fan of potato chips, the next best thing might just be a crispy, lightweight sheet of preserved jellyfish. Scientists have come up with a new way to prepare these animals for consumption, improving on a centuries-old technique. And they say that eating these creatures would both help us battle jellyfish blooms in certain

The physics behind fungal spore momentum may not keep all of us up at night, but for a select group of scientists, the issue has proved vexing for over a century. Now, researchers in the US have solved the mystery of how fungi launch their reproductive seedlings, showing how the merging of minuscule water droplets

Using the flatworm’s ability to survive and even regrow its head after decapitation, researchers have shown the animal will shy away from a light source even when it no longer has eyes. And these eyes can do more than you think; the study also found that in spite of being little more than dimples with

We’re still making many discoveries about the animals that roamed the Earth more than 66 million years ago, and a newly identified dinosaur bears a remarkable resemblance to a modern-day bird, the cassowary. The similarities are so strong that palaeontologists are now studying the flightless cassowaries to get a better idea of how their ancient equivalents

A fresh analysis of the tardigrade’s genome has revealed new secrets about the world’s toughest animal, while casting doubt on a previous conclusion. By comparing the genes of taken from two different species from the phylum Tardigrada, researchers determined how the group is related to other animals while pinpointing the genes that allow individuals to

Make some room tortoises and whales, because it looks like tubeworms have the real secret to longevity. A new study has found that these deep-sea animals from the Gulf of Mexico can live to be between 100 and 300 years old. “At more than 250 years old, Escarpia laminata achieves a lifespan that exceeds other

Jude Sparks was out on a family hike in the desert near Las Cruces, New Mexico, testing walkie-talkies, when the then-9-year-old boy tripped over a rocky protrusion. When Jude got up again, he examined what appeared to be two large, fossilised teeth jutting out from the terrain. Farther up, he spotted what looked like a

For the first time in 130 years, researchers have discovered a new species of sunfish that has escaped taxonomy records for almost three centuries. The bizarre new species has been named the Hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta), and has been found in the cold waters of New Zealand, southern Chile, South Africa and the south-east coast

Dogs are heartwarmingly friendly. They lick us, jump on us, would probably buy us a house if they could. We love them for it – even if sometimes they’re a little too overenthusiastic – but the reason behind why these animals are so hypersocially engaging has never been fully understood. Now, a new study examining

Many people spend their workdays indoors under fluorescent lights and in front of computers, then return home to bask in the glow of television screens. But spending too much time inside isn’t good for us. And nature is beneficial – maybe essential – for human health. Psychologists and health researchers are finding more and more

Aquatic plants buried underground for more than a century can be revived and regrown, according to a new study investigating the phenomenon of ‘ghost ponds’ – ponds that aren’t properly drained but filled in with soil and vegetation under agricultural land. Restoring some of these buried ponds, and the habitats hidden in limbo beneath the

Verily is releasing millions of male mosquitos treated with a naturally occurring bacteria that renders them sterile in Fresno. This is the largest such field trial in US history and part of a major effort to fight Zika virus and dengue fever. Verily, the life sciences arm of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has created a robot

If you thought your commute was bad Thursday, it probably wasn’t as bad as what people dealt with while driving along a coastal highway in Depoe Bay, Oregon. A truck carrying 7,500 pounds (3.4 tonnes) of hagfish – or slime eels – tipped over while trying to make a stop, tossing containers of slime-covered prehistoric