biology

Whether Columbus crabs choose "inclusive" mating or monogamy depends on where they shack up.

Primatologists noticed older bonobos grooming their kin from a distance, like a person holding a restaurant menu at arm’s length.

Plant stems act like fiber-optic cables running light down to underground roots.

Your spit can tell you much more about your health than whether you should be flossing.

"Thirst neurons" activate when you drink, even though the liquid won't enter the blood for 10 to 20 minutes.

Commerical fish populations are under threat.

Cats have been using humans for thousands of years.

In the past 500 years, cats have played a role in the demise of 63 species.

A new study suggests we could someday borrow the tardigrade’s resilience to use in our own flimsy bodies.

Watching them do it is weirdly unsettling.

If a limbless reptile like the one above crosses your path, it’s obviously a snake, right? Maybe not.

The fruit and its wasp have been evolving together for millions of years.

In 1835, Charles Darwin arrived at the island chain that would shape his theory of natural selection.

A good reminder that not every life form is a fan of oxygen.

One species has the lowest field metabolic rate ever recorded in a mammal.

Scientists have identified a cellular pathway in workers that makes them susceptible to their queen’s fertility-destroying pheromones.

The same type of antibodies that cause illnesses like multiple sclerosis and lupus may also lead to a longer life.

Researchers were ready to fight a crab over rights to the mysterious prize.

This tomato plant can sense and defend itself against invading plants.

Researchers say these gases “affect our brain, mind, and behavior.”

It may look silly, but it serves an important purpose.

The earliest known ancestor of all living things made its home on a hydrothermal vent, subsisting on hydrogen and metal.

We've misunderstood them for well over a century.

There are Star Wars fans everywhere, including among the scientists who study life on Earth.