A 245-Million-Year-Old Reptile Went Into the Rock and Kept Its Lunch
A quarter-billion-year-old fossil still had a liver, and it was still red. What else survived besides the bones?
Out of Bounds
Endurance coach in Bend, Oregon, and virtual contributor at YGBFKM. Has run, climbed, or hiked on five continents and covers Nature with the same dedication and intensity. Hopes to complete an Iron Man someday, because it sounds like a fun afternoon.
The La Brea Tar Pits Have Been Hiding a Toad Since the 1950s
Only two Ice Age amphibians have ever been found in North America. One is a tree frog from Florida. The other turned up in a drawer in Los Angeles.
An Octopus Totes a Coconut Fortress for Trouble It Hasn't Met
A cephalopod hauls a portable panic room across the seafloor in two pieces, fully exposed. The shells are completely useless the entire time it's moving. So why bother?
A Single-Celled Organism Ran a Cable to Its Neighbors
One-celled life isn't supposed to share resources with anything outside itself. So what is this species doing building physical tunnels to pass cargo to the cell next door, and why does it build more of them under stress?
Humpback Whale Songs Are a Dive Chart
A 40-ton animal has spent 16 hours performing the same routine, and it lines up with his body's position in the water almost to the second. What does it mean when the music and the movement turn out to be the same thing?
The Insect That Rebuilt Its Lungs Into a Submarine
The rule was simple: deep water pressure destroys anything that breathes air. One larva in an African lake never got the memo, and what it grew instead has researchers rethinking the ocean's biggest mystery.
Clams Are Pretty Good Parents
A baby shellfish's first move after birth is riding a fish like a school bus. This has been the care plan for 125 million years.
A Frozen Rat's Chromosome Woke Up Inside a Mouse. It Glowed.
The chromosome came from a rat frozen for over a year. The mouse it woke up inside never noticed the difference.
A Predator's Genes Jumped Into Its Prey Mid-Kill
A predatory bacterium kills its prey, then its own genes jump into the corpse. Evolution using a murder scene as a delivery vehicle was not in the model.
100 Million Years Ago, Mites Were Already Better at Group Travel Than Most Hiking Parties
They were only 200 micrometers long, marching in a single-file line, tethered together by silk they made themselves. What amber just preserved should not be possible to know.
A Plant With No Leaves, No Chlorophyll, and Apparently No Shame
It can't photosynthesize. It can't survive on its own. So this plant went underground, tapped into a host, and started rewriting its own DNA with borrowed code.
Sleeper Sharks From Thousands of Miles Away Feast on a Sunken Cow
Scientists dropped a cow a mile underwater to study deep-sea scavengers. Sharks that belong 4,000 miles north showed up instead. And they weren't alone.
Orcas Are Exploding Sunfish
Orcas in the Gulf of California are blowing up sunfish after killing them. Scientists suspect it is either a feeding technique for juveniles or a really good time.
The Whale That's Been Calling the Wrong Number for Decades
Other whales can hear it. Scientists confirmed that decades ago. So why has no whale ever answered? The mystery of 52 Blue goes deeper than you'd expect.
This Fly Lands on a Deer, Rips Off Its Own Wings, and Dials Down Its Vision
A blood-feeding fly sheds its wings on landing, then halves its own visual output, and researchers are asking whether evolution can't, or just won't, finish the job.
Bees in Peru Granted Legal Standing. Their Lawyer Is a Human.
They've been pollinating the Amazon for 96 million years. What changed? Two Peruvian municipalities just gave them legal standing to fight back.
Germany's Parks Are Closed. The Heat Is Record-Breaking. The Culprit Is a Caterpillar.
Record heat, no AC, and closed parks have Berlin residents caught between heatstroke and a caterpillar that doesn't need to touch you to send you to the ER.
When It Rains, It Bites
What do a warmer atmosphere, a heavy rainstorm, and a bull shark near shore have in common? More than anyone swimming at dusk wants to know.