Baboons can recognise words
Baboons have no linguistic skills, but they can spot printed words. Over a period of 45 days, a team of scientists from the US and France studied a group of baboons living in…
‘Robosquirrel’ helps scientists understand rattlesnakes
When adult squirrels come face-to-face with a rattlesnake, they approach it head-first in an elongated posture, making flagging movements with their tails, but when squirrels want to fend of rattlesnakes, they heat their…
Picky females promote diversity
Women are genetically designed to be picky — particularly with their men.
Frog power
No need for a trip to a remote, exotic location, this elusive amphibian has been living in plain sight — and some of its ‘friends’ might save our lives.
Sexual competition has endowed ducks with enormous organs
Male Argentine lake ducks possess — in relation to their body length — the longest penises of any vertebrate.
Giant and colossal squids have super-powerful eyes
Giant and colossal squids have soccer-ball-sized eyes that detect large moving objects at 120 metres.
Promiscuous queen bees produce healthier colonies
If you’re a queen bee, mating more than once means better genetic diversity and more bacteria.
The canary in the mine might not croak
A common North American frog is identified as the carrier of the deadly chytridiomycosis.
