Odd Creatures News
May 2, 2024
Top Headlines
May 2, 2024 — A wild orangutan was observed applying a plant with known medicinal properties to a wound, a first for a wild ...
May 1, 2024 — A new documentary has recreated the face of a 75,000-year-old female Neanderthal whose flattened skull was discovered and rebuilt from hundreds of bone fragments by a team of archaeologists and ...
Apr. 30, 2024 — A study of body size in leaf-nosed bats of the Solomon Islands has revealed surprising genetic diversity among nearly indistinguishable species on different ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — How did North America's saber-toothed cats hunt without breaking their unwieldy saber-like canines, which are vulnerable to sideways bending stresses? A paleontologist provides mechanical evidence that during adolescence, when young cats were ...
Latest Headlines
updated 7:29pm EDT
Apr. 30, 2024 — A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking -- a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Scientists have applied a data-driven approach to understanding firefly population dynamics on a continental scale. Key findings from this new study indicate that fireflies, part of the beetle order, ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Scientists have developed a smart, reusable adhesive more than ten times stronger than a gecko's feet adhesion, pointing the way for development of reusable superglue and grippers capable of holding ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — When hunting for mice in winter, red and arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2-4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — Different types of barley recruit distinct communities of soil microbes to grow around their roots by releasing a custom mix of sugars and other ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Greening the way we eat needn't mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Dinosaurs were likely as smart as reptiles but not as intelligent as ...
Apr. 26, 2024 — Are mice clever enough to be strategic? A neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed poorly in tests when they ...
Apr. 26, 2024 — Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known ...
Earlier Headlines
Apr. 29, 2024 — For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — Mice lacking an olfactory system have had their sense of smell restored with neurons from rats, the first time scientists have successfully integrated the sensory apparatus of one species into ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — How do birds fly in a coordinated and seemingly effortless fashion? Part of the answer lies in precise, and previously unknown, aerodynamic interactions, reports a team of mathematicians. Its ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Cells constantly navigate a dynamic environment, facing ever-changing conditions and challenges. But how do cells swiftly adapt to these environmental fluctuations? A new study is answering that ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Every cuckoo is an adopted child -- raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Their first vocalizations help young zebra finch males to memorize the songs of ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers explain the genomic and developmental basis of the patagium, the thin skin membrane that allows some mammalian species to soar through the ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study. The study focuses on an ancient ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — The day a male spear squid hatches determines which mating tactic he will use throughout his life, according to new research. Spear squid (Heterololigo bleekeri) that hatch earlier in the season ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — When we think of evolution, we think of a process that happens over hundreds or thousands of years. In research recently published, a species of frog that has evolved over the course of merely 25 ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — Palaeontologists have solved a hundred-year-old mystery of how some fossil frogs preserve their fleshy parts -- it's all down to their skin. Palaeontologists studied 45-million-year-old fossil ...
Apr. 19, 2024 — What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by ...
Apr. 19, 2024 — Researchers have found differences between experienced Ordnance Survey (OS) mapmakers and novices in the way that they interpret aerial images for mapmaking, which could lead to improved training ...
Apr. 18, 2024 — A new robotic suction cup which can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone, has been developed by ...
Apr. 18, 2024 — A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy ...
Apr. 17, 2024 — New research has highlighted an area in Arabia that once acted as a key point for cultural exchanges and trades amongst ancient people -- and it all took place in vast caves and lava tubes that have ...
Apr. 17, 2024 — The fossilized remains of a second gigantic jawbone measuring more than two meters long has been found on a beach in Somerset, ...
Apr. 17, 2024 — Chattering squirrels, charming coypus, and tail-slapping beavers -- along with some other rodents -- have orange-brown front teeth. Researchers have produced high-resolution images of rodent ...
Apr. 17, 2024 — To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy ...
Apr. 16, 2024 — Young male blue tits are less successful in fathering offspring outside their breeding pair, not because of a lack of experience, but because they are outcompeted by older males, researchers ...
Monday, April 29, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
- With Hybrid Brains, These Mice Smell Like a Rat
- How Do Birds Flock? Researchers Do the Math to Reveal Previously Unknown Aerodynamic Phenomenon
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Cells May Possess Hidden Communication System
- Color Variants in Cuckoos: The Advantages of Rareness
- Zebra Finch Chicks Don't Babble for No Reason
- Scientists Unveil Genetics Behind Development of Gliding
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Bioluminescence First Evolved in Animals at Least 540 Million Years Ago
- Squids' Birthday Influences Mating
- Frog Species Evolved Rapidly in Response to Road Salts
- Fossil Frogs Share Their Skincare Secrets
Friday, April 19, 2024
- Lemur's Lament: When One Vulnerable Species Stalks Another
- New Research Shines a Light on How Expert Mapmakers See the World Differently
Thursday, April 18, 2024
- Octopus Inspires New Suction Mechanism for Robots
- Data-Driven Music: Converting Climate Measurements Into Music
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
- First Evidence of Human Occupation in Lava Tube Cave in Saudi Arabia
- Paleontologists Unearth What May Be the Largest Known Marine Reptile
- Study Finds Iron-Rich Enamel Protects, but Doesn't Color, Rodents' Orange-Brown Incisors
- Making Crops Colorful for Easier Weeding
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
- Older Males out-Compete Young Males Outside Breeding Pairs, Bird Study Shows
- A Single Atom Layer of Gold: Researchers Create Goldene
- Can Animals Count?
Monday, April 15, 2024
- Unlocking the 'chain of Worms'
- Evolution's Recipe Book: How 'copy Paste' Errors Cooked Up the Animal Kingdom
- Even the Simplest Marine Organisms Tend to Be Individualistic
- Leptanilla Voldemort, a Ghostly Slender New Ant Species from the Dark Depths of the Underground
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
- 'Teacher Toads' Can Save Native Animals from Toxic Cane Toads
- Do Some Mysterious Bones Belong to Gigantic Ichthyosaurs?
Monday, April 8, 2024
- Toothed Whale Echolocation Organs Evolved from Jaw Muscles
- Mediterranean Marine Worm Has Developed Enormous Eyes
Thursday, April 4, 2024
- Finds at Schöningen Show Wood Was Crucial Raw Material 300,000 Years Ago
- Researchers Envision Sci-Fi Worlds Involving Changes to Atmospheric Water Cycle
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
- Giant Phage Holds Promise as Treatment for Lung Infections
- Plastic-Free Vegan Leather That Dyes Itself Grown from Bacteria
- We've Had Bird Evolution All Wrong
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
- Elastocaloric Cooling: Refrigerator Cools by Flexing Artificial Muscles
- Last Chance to Record Archaic Greek Language 'heading for Extinction'
- AI Writing, Illustration Emits Hundreds of Times Less Carbon Than Humans, Study Finds
Thursday, March 28, 2024
- Genomic Research May Help Explain Cancer Resistance in Tasmanian Devils
- Ancient DNA Reveals the Appearance of a 6th Century Chinese Emperor
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
- Rock-Wallaby Bite Size ‘packs a Punch’
- Scientists Extract Genetic Secrets from 4,000-Year-Old Teeth to Illuminate the Impact of Changing Human Diets Over the Centuries
- Secrets of the Naked Mole-Rat: New Study Reveals How Their Unique Metabolism Protects Them from Heart Attacks
- Milk on Ice: Antarctic Time Capsule of Whole Milk Powder Sheds Light on the Enduring Qualities--and Evolution--of Dairy Products Past and Present
- A Solar Cell You Can Bend and Soak in Water
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
- Researchers Show That Introduced Tardigrade Proteins Can Slow Metabolism in Human Cells
- Scientists on the Hunt for Evidence of Quantum Gravity's Existence at the South Pole
- Two Coral Snakes Recorded Battling for Prey in a Scientific First
Monday, March 25, 2024
- Uncovering the Mystery of Dorset's Cerne Giant
- Bees Use Antennae to Decode Hive Mates' Dances in the Dark
- A Self-Cleaning Wall Paint
- Wild Bird Gestures 'after You'
- New Archive of Ancient Human Brains Challenges Misconceptions of Soft Tissue Preservation
Friday, March 22, 2024
- Research Uncovers a Rare Resin Fossil Find: A Spider That Aspires to Be an Ant
- Signs of Life Would Be Detectable in Single Ice Grain Emitted from Extraterrestrial Moons
- Tudor Era Horse Cemetery in Westminster Revealed as Likely Resting Place for Elite Imported Animals
Thursday, March 21, 2024
- Researchers Name Prehistoric Amphibian Ancestor Discovered in Smithsonian Collection After Kermit the Frog
- Heat to Blame for Space Pebble Demise
- Decoding the Plant World's Complex Biochemical Communication Networks
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
- Deep Earth Electrical Grid Mystery Solved
- Across Oceans and Millennia: Decoding the Origin and History of the Bottle Gourd
- In Flies, a Single Brain Cell Can Drive Multiple Movements of the Body
- Eyes Open and Toes out of Water: How a Giant Water Bug Reached the Island of Cyprus
- Study Reveals 'cozy Domesticity' Of Prehistoric Stilt-House Dwellers in England's Ancient Marshland
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
- Fairy Circles: Plant Water Stress Causes Namibia's Gaps in Grass
- Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?
Monday, March 18, 2024
- Tanks of the Triassic: New Crocodile Ancestor Identified
- Backyard Insect Inspires Invisibility Devices, Next Gen Tech
- Genetic Basis for the Evolution of Hair Discovered in the Clawed Frog
Friday, March 15, 2024
- DNA Origami-Based Vaccines Toward Safe and Highly-Effective Precision Cancer Immunotherapy
- Protein Fragments ID Two New 'extremophile' Microbes--and May Help Find Alien Life
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
- What Kinds of Seismic Signals Did Swifties Send at LA Concert?
- Sonic Youth: Healthy Reef Sounds Increase Coral Settlement
- Milk to the Rescue for Diabetics? Cow Produces Human Insulin in Milk
- Who Knew That Coprophagy Was So Vital for Birds' Survival?
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
- Scientists Propose New Theory That Explains Sand Ripples on Mars and on Earth
- Cheetahs' Unrivalled Speed Explained by Their 'sweet Spot' Size, Finds Imperial Study
Monday, March 11, 2024
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Friday, March 8, 2024
Thursday, March 7, 2024
- Interstellar Signal Linked to Aliens Was Actually Just a Truck
- Earth's Earliest Forest Revealed in Somerset Fossils
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
- Bee-2-Bee Influencing: Bees Master Complex Tasks Through Social Interaction
- New Deep-Sea Worm Discovered at Methane Seep Off Costa Rica
- Genetic Mutation in a Quarter of All Labradors Hard-Wires Them for Obesity
- Do Some Electric Fish Sense the World Through Comrades' Auras?
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
- Tiny Worms Tolerate Chornobyl Radiation
- Fossils of Giant Sea Lizard With Dagger-Like Teeth Show How Our Oceans Have Fundamentally Changed Since the Dinosaur Era
- Fossil Named 'Attenborough's Strange Bird' Was the First in Its Kind Without Teeth
Monday, March 4, 2024
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Friday, March 1, 2024
- Dung Beetles Show Their Love by Sharing the Load
- Study Identifies Multi-Organ Response to Seven Days Without Food