Green turtles of the Great Barrier Reef
Gobal warming has an impact on male turtles.
A green sea turtle from the northern Great Barrier Reef. Camryn Allen/NOAA Fisheries The north of the Great Barrier ...
Nature
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Females fall for robot fiddlers
Biologists use robotic crabs to test whether its real love.
Female fiddler crabs have a thing for males who fiddle fast – or possibly just fancy a fling with a crustacean robot,...
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Mantis shrimp hits like a heavyweight
Research discovers why a shrimp doesn’t destroy itself.
In the world of boxing, the former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has been touted as the hardest hitter; and amateur...
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For straight line motion, snakes first relax
US research confirms a 70-year-old idea.
Snakes are well known for their sinuous, side-winding movements, but they can also move in a straight line, like a tr...
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Ants kill the sick to save the rest
Research finds ants practice “destructive disinfection”.
Ants practice infanticide to protect the health of the colony. The invasive garden ant (Lasius neglectus) takes the ...
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Australian raptors start fires to flush out prey
The first recorded instance of fire being used by animals.
Australian Aboriginal lore is replete with references to birds carrying fire, and some traditional ceremonies even de...
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How flowering plants conquered the world
Researchers suggest a solution to Darwin’s “abominable mystery”.
The Jurassic era was dominated by dinosaurs, conifers and ferns. But around 140 million years ago, at the start of th...
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Scientists discover seven new spider species
The giant Orc-eating spider from Lord of the Rings is also real.
A team of Brazilian researchers has simultaneously revealed seven newly discovered species of spiders and a somewhat ...
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Unweaving the peacock spider’s rainbows
Peacock spiders use sophisticated optical nanostructures.
Brightly colored Australian peacock spiders (Maratus spp.) captivate even the most arachnophobic viewers with their f...
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Ultra black bird
This bird’s feathers remain black even when coated in gold.
This black feather from a Paradise Riflebird (Ptiloris paradiseus) still appears ultra black even when coated with go...
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The microscopic majesty of pollen
It looks stunning, but it can actually be bad.
It literally gets up the nose of millions of hay fever sufferers, making pollen a distinctly unpopular member of the ...
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It’s official: dogs are smarter than cats
Counting brain cells reveals that cats are a bit dim.
Bad news for lovers of cats. Your pet is not haughty, enigmatic and given to philosophical pondering. Your pet is jus...