Animals

A nematode worm glows as it nears death in this screenshot from a YouTube video showing the work of researchers in London.

Worms' Bright Blue Death Could Shed Light On Human Aging

7:50pm August 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Researchers are getting clues about the human life cycle from studying the death of tiny worms, which internally release a blue fluorescent dye in the waning hours of their lives. The glowing chemical travels from one end of the creature to the other. One researcher calls it "reminiscent of the soul departing the worm."

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Science

Wildlife Sound Archivist Remembered

1:46pm August 03, 2013

Twenty years ago Saturday, Ted Parker, one of the world's greatest field biologists and sound archivists, died in a plane crash. He made nearly 11,000 wildlife recordings, and could identify some 4,000 different bird species by just the sound of their vocalizations. In this audio montage from Cornell Lab of Ornithology, director John Fitzpatrick offers a remembrance.

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A side view of the new ant species Eurhopalothrix zipacna. Mounting glue and paper appear beneath the ant, one of 33 new species discovered in Central America by Jack Longino, a biologist at the University of Utah.

Science

Jack Longino, 'The Astonishing Ant Man,' Finds 33 New Species

6:01pm August 02, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

All told, the scientist has discovered 131 new species of animals in his career, and some are so scary-looking, he's named them after demons. It's a task that's taken more than 30 years of crawling through rain forests to accomplish, and Longino says he's still only scratched the surface.

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Homepage Mistake May Get Kitten A Home

6:59am July 31, 2013

For a brief time Tuesday on the Chicago Tribune homepage, the main story was a photo of an adorable gray kitten with the headline, "Headline test here." But the Tribune says the mistake may mean good fortune for Benton, the kitty in the photo, who is up for adoption.

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Science

For Some Mammals It's One Love, But Reasons Still Unclear

11:11am July 30, 2013

by Richard Harris

Scientists are squaring off yet again on the question of why some mammals are monogamous. A new paper argues that monogamy is most likely the result of males trying to protect their youngsters from murderous rivals. A second study says monogamy in mammals evolved in species where females were scattered about.

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Texas' Two-Headed Turtle Is Facebook Friendly

7:07am July 29, 2013

In Texas, Thelma and Louise is a big draw. Not the movie — Thelma and Louise is the name of a two-headed turtle born at the San Antonio Zoo last month. The Texas cooter is so popular, she has her own Facebook page and more than 1,700 friends.

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Putin Puckers Up For 46-Pound Pike In Video

7:07am July 29, 2013

Thanks to a new Kremlin-produced video, we know now that Russian President Vladimir Putin is quite the fisherman. The video is of Putin catching what the Kremlin claims is a 46-pound pike — and then kissing it.

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Biologists normally look for the hellbender slamander, which is known by the nickname "snot otter," under rocks in streams. But now there's a gentler way: They can take water samples and look for traces of the animals' DNA.

What's Swimming In The River? Just Look For DNA

7:34pm July 24, 2013

by Richard Harris

Biologists have discovered they can track hard-to-see species in streams, ponds and even the ocean by sampling the water for DNA. Scientists say the technique is an important conservation tool: So far, it's been used to track declining giant salamanders and even locate a rare whale.

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The Mount Charleston blue butterfly is a rare species found only in a few small areas high up in Nevada's Spring Mountains.

Nevada Wildfire Could Snuff Out A Rare Butterfly

7:10pm July 23, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

The Mount Charleston blue butterfly is found only in a couple of small patches high in Nevada's Spring Mountains. But the Carpenter 1 fire, which has been raging through the area since July 1, is threatening the land and scientists fear the fire could push the butterflies into extinction.

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Bottle-nosed dolphins leap out of the water near Dana Point, Calif.

Science

We Call Him Flipper. But What Do The Dolphins Call Him?

9:02pm July 22, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Dolphins, like humans, are part of complex social networks. And research now indicates that they use their unique whistle sounds to identify and communicate with each other. "Every time a dolphin heard its signature whistle, it called back, sometimes multiple times," one researcher says.

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