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Animals Articles

Here comes Swarmageddon!

By Sid Perkins / May 12, 2013

Two adult cicadas size each other up on a wooden railing. Credit: rbmiles/iStockphoto

This spring and summer, trillions of cicadas will emerge in the eastern United States

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, brood, Brood II, Bug Appétit, Cicada-licious, cicadas, College Park; John Cooley, entomologist, entomophagy, evolutionary biologist, feature, Insectarium, Janet Raloff, Michael Raupp, parasites, periodical cicadas, topstories, University of Connecticut in Storrs; nymphs, University of Maryland

Blending in

By Eric Niiler / May 10, 2013

Can you spot the cuttlefish? A common European cuttlefish camouflages itself on the seafloor. Credit: Justine Allen

Engineers take a lesson from nature’s masters of disguise

Posted in Animals, Technology & Engineering | Tagged 3-D TV, Andrea Toa, Baltimore County, camouflage, Cape Cod, cephalopod, chromatophore, cuttlefish, Doryteuthis pealeii, electronic skin, feature, flounder, holographic games, John Rogers, light detector, light sensor, Lydia Mathger, mantis shrimp, Marine Biological Laboratory, MBL, medical imaging, mega TVs, octopus, opsin, predator, Rice University, Richard Baraniuk, Roger Hanlon, Sepia officinalis, squid, submarine, three dimensional TV, Tom Cronin, topstories, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, visual pigment, Woods Hole

Honey’s hidden helper

By Stephen Ornes / May 9, 2013

A new study identified compounds in honey that help bees fight off germs. Credit: Jack Dykinga, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Scientists identify a substance in honey that helps bee bodies fight poisons

Posted in Animals | Tagged bee, colony collapse disorder, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, detox genes, entomology, gene, getinvolved, honey, honeybee, nectar, p-coumaric acid, pollen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland in College Park

Motion in the ocean

By Stephen Ornes / May 3, 2013

Scientists say pulsing corals make their motion to bring in needed nutrients. Credit: M. Kremien et al/PNAS 2013

Scientists figure out why pulsing corals pulse

Posted in Animals | Tagged algae, animal behavior, Australian Institute of Marine Science, coral reef, corals, getinvolved, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Katharina Fabricius, marine ecology, Maya Kremien, nutrition, photosynthesis, reef ecology, xeniid

Infectious animals

By Amanda Leigh Mascarelli / April 17, 2013

Critters spread many germs that can sicken each other — and even kill people

Posted in Animals, Body & Health | Tagged AIDS, bush meat, bushmeat, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Columbia University, Ebola, EcoHealth Alliance, ecology, emerging infectious disease, epidemic, epidemiology, feature, flu, Hendra virus, HIV, Ian Lipkin, Influenza, Jonathan Epstein, Kristine Smith, Melissa Miller, microbiology, Nipah virus, pathogen, Salmonella, salmonellosis, SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, simian immunodeficiency syndrome, SIV, topstories, vaccination, vaccine, zoonosis, zoonotic

People can sicken animals

By Amanda Leigh Mascarelli / April 17, 2013

Wildlife can sometimes become infected with germs shed by people

Posted in Animals, Body & Health | Tagged biological pollution, bobcats, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, cats, clams, crabs, ecology, emerging infectious disease, explainer, feces, filter feeders, germs, marine mammals, Melissa Miller, microbe, microbiology, mollusk, mussels, Oysters, parasite, pathogen, Pollution, runoff, sea otters, terms: pets, toxoplasma, toxoplasmosis, wetlands, wildcat, wildlife

No high notes for these blind fish

By Stephen Ornes / April 5, 2013

This southern cavefish is blind and, new research suggests, partially deaf. But don’t feel sorry for the little fish; it may just be adapting to a dark and noisy habitat. Credit: Matthew Niemiller

Cave dwellers that can’t see are also partially deaf

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, biology, blind fish, blindness, brains, cave fish, cavefish, caves, College Park, Daphne Soares, deaf, deaf fish, evolution, getinvolved, Kentucky, Martina Bradic, neurology, neuromast, New York University, pitch, sounds, Tennessee, topstories, University of Maryland, waves

Big squid: All one family

By Stephen Ornes / March 28, 2013

A giant squid is unloaded by fishermen at a wharf in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: David Paul/University of Melbourne

Genes show all giant squid belong to one, worldwide species

Posted in Animals | Tagged cells, Clyde Roper, Copenhagen, DNA, getinvolved, giant squid, M. Thomas Gilbert, Natural History Museum, North Atlantic Ocean, Ocean, Smithsonian Institution

This shrimp packs a punch

By Roberta Kwok / March 27, 2013

Mantis shrimp are related to crabs and lobsters. They come in a gorgeous array of colors. Credit: Roy Caldwell

Researchers learn a lot from mantis shrimp, colorful marine creatures that possess deadly weapons and complex vision

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, Amherst, animal behavior, animal communication, animal physiology, arthropod, Baltimore County, Berkeley, biomaterials, biomimicry, cavitation, crab, crustacean, David Kisailus, exoskeleton, feature, Haptosquilla trispinosa, high-speed video, hydroxyapatite, invertebrates, lobster, mantis shrimp, marine science, materials science, oceanography, photoreceptors, praying mantis, receptors, Riverside, Roy Caldwell, Santa Catalina Island, Sheila Patek, sound, stomatopod, Tom Cronin, topstories, University of California, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, vision

Another buzz for bees

By Stephen Ornes / March 24, 2013

The caffeine in some flower nectar gives bees a memory boost, a new study shows. Credit: Image courtesy of Geraldine Wright

Blooms are more memorable when their nectar contains caffeine

Posted in Animals | Tagged bees, behavior, brain, caffeine, coffee, England, Gerladine Wright, getinvolved, honeybees, nectar, neuroscience, Newcastle University, Pollination, protection, stimulant, tea, topstories

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