Animals
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How on Earth did you get like that?
Study explores the blending of complex animal patterns.
A little mathematics has shown how animals get their extraordinary patterns. Previous studies have revealed how an...
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Honeybees have unique personalities, like us
Being an individual is good for the whole.
Individuals shape a community and its collective patterns of behaviour – and not just in humans, it turns out. Sci...
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NatureWrap: Dolphins are clever breathers
Plus helpful rats, jaguar threats and acoustic wings.
Dolphins actively slow their hearts before diving and can even adjust their heart rate to suit how long they plan to ...
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The evolution of an aggressive tumour
Genomic study may help save the Tasmanian Devil.
Australia’s iconic Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is particularly prone to a cancer that spreads through biti...
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Ants with armour
Biominerals provide a unique level of protection.
Scientists have discovered another clue to the evolutionary success of leaf-cutter ants: they have biomineral armour,...
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NatureWrap: Blue whales return to South Georgia
Plus plants that hide, toxic fur and tough love.
Critically endangered Antarctic blue whales are returning to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia five decades a...
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Where to look for bees of different types
Hint: think temperate zones and more to the north.
There’s a lot more to bees than you might think, because there’s a lot of them. Around 20,000 different species, in f...
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A glimmer of hope on vertebrate biodiversity
You have to look at the numbers differently, researchers say.
It’s been estimated that half to two-thirds of the world’s vertebrate populations, from birds and marine animals to e...
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Living life in the fast lane
Migratory animals reproduce earlier and die younger.
Lots of animals love to travel with the seasons while others prefer to stay at home. But there’s a trade-off, accordi...
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Relentless invasion of the cane toad continues
It’s evolved to become faster and more efficient.
When people say they love all creatures great and small, they’re surely not thinking of the warty, poisonous cane toa...
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Diversity is a key to survival for mammals
Genome study identifies important positions in the DNA.
Mammals most at risk of extinction have low genetic diversity in some regions of DNA, according to a new genomic anal...
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NatureWrap: Gentoos may be four not one
Some ants eat acid and some primates mature differently.
Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) should be reclassified as four species, according to British scientists who analys...