A 95-million-year-old crocodyliform fossil, affectionately nicknamed Elton, was discovered in Montana by student Harrison Allen. Unlike most crocs, it lived on land and ate a varied diet. The find led to the naming of a new species, Thikarisuchus xenodentes, offering insights into croc evolution and burrow-based fossil preservation. For Allen, it was a life-changing project that launched him into a career in paleontology.
Read moreMore than a century after its discovery, a mysterious fossil from South Wales has finally been confirmed as belonging to a new species of predatory dinosaur. Using cutting-edge digital scanning, researchers reconstructed the long-lost jawbone, revealing unique features that warranted a new name: Newtonsaurus.
Read moreTadpoles that can typically regrow amputated tails or limbs lost their ability to regenerate after researchers blocked the expression of a newly identified gene that is one of the drivers for this regrowth. Furthermore, scientists hypothesize that the loss of appendage regeneration in warm-blooded animals might have been caused by the gain or loss of this gene, dubbed c-Answer, in an ancestor's genome during evolution.
Read moreA group of snorkelling grandmothers is helping scientists better understand marine ecology by photographing venomous sea snakes in waters off the city of Noumea, New Caledonia.
Read moreThe first study of a toad mimicking a venomous snake reveals that it likely imitates one of Africa's largest vipers in both appearance and behavior.
Read moreBiologists have documented, for the first time, the widespread presence of the notorious chytrid fungus in 80 species of frogs from lowland rain forest sites in the Peruvian Amazon.
Read moreBecause of imprinted preferences, strawberry poison frog females mate more with similar colored males, and less with differently colored males. Over time, the behavior could lead to two color types becoming separate species.
Read moreNative to South America, imported fire ants have now spread to parts of North America and elsewhere around the world. These invasive pests have painful stings that, in some cases, can cause serious medical problems, such as hypersensitivity reactions, infections and even kidney failure. Now, researchers have identified pyridine alkaloids that, along with other venom components, could contribute to these conditions.
Read moreInterspecific feeding — when an adult of one species feeds the young of another — is rare among songbirds, and scientists could only speculate on why it occurs, but now, researchers have new insight into this behavior.
Read moreBy rearing frogs with parents — or foster parents — of different colors, biologists discovered that behavior in response to color may be more important than genetics in the evolution of new species.
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