Biology

Scientists have been left dumbfounded after wolf puppies raised in their care exhibited a totally unexpected ability to retrieve a ball much like a domesticated dog, shedding light on how the early stages of dog domestication may have played out.

The line between robots and living organisms is beginning to blur. Researchers at the University of Vermont and Tufts University have now essentially created new creatures from frog cells, complete with programmable behaviors.

Finding ways to slow down aging would help reduce all kinds of diseases. And now scientists have made a pretty substantial breakthrough, extending the lifespan of worms by a staggering 500 percent by tweaking a couple of cellular pathways.

Wouldn't it be neat if there had been a pint-size Tyrannosaurus? Well, sorry, but there wasn't. According to new research, skeletons that were thought to belong to a pygmy relative are actually from teenage T. Rexes.

Gauging the maximum lifespan of wild animals can be difficult, as scientists are limited to examining whichever creatures they capture. Now, however, researchers have developed a method of determining a species' natural lifespan, based on its DNA.

With their bright plumage, North American coot chicks really stick out. A new study by UC Santa Cruz indicates that such coloration not only serves to get more food out of the parents, but also maximizes the bird's reproductive strategy.

Earlier this year, many people were freaked out by the discovery of what was claimed to be the fossilized remains of a disturbingly-big spider. Now, however, it turns out that the "spider" is actually a crayfish with extra legs painted on.

For the first time, new research describes both gesture-based and vocal communication among wild orang-utans: specifically Southwest Bornean orang-utan mothers and their young.

The ancestors of today's whales originally walked on four legs. New research suggests that previously-discovered fossils represent a point at which the creatures were moving from swimming with those legs to swimming with their tails.

New research led by Michael D. D'Emic, an assistant professor of biology at Adelphi University, indicates that a 70-million-year-old dinosaur called Majungasaurus shed and replaced its teeth like a shark about every two months.

Researchers have created bacteria that can effectively eat air. By carefully directing the evolution of E. coli in the lab, the team managed to wean them off their preferred diet of sugar, and make the switch to carbon dioxide in the air around them.

A team of Stanford University scientists have captured the first ever recording of a blue whale’s heart rate, and in doing so, have gathered some interesting insights into the massive mammal's behavior and evolution.