Humans and other primates are outliers among mammals for having nails instead of claws. But how, when and why we transitioned from claws to nails has been an evolutionary head-scratcher.
Now, new fossil evidence shows that ancient primates -- including one of the oldest known, Teilhardina brandti -- had specialized grooming claws as well as nails....
Dogs understand what's written all over your face
Dogs are capable of understanding the emotions behind an expression on a human face. For example, if a dog turns its head to the left, it could be picking up that someone is angry, fearful or happy. If there is a look of surprise on a person's face, dogs tend to turn their head to...
People who feel threatened by vegetarianism more likely to care less about animals
New research suggests that if people perceive the rise of vegetarianism as a threat to their way of life they are more likely to care less for some animals.
Researchers from the University of Kent in the UK and Brock University in Canada studied the impact of human supremacy beliefs and vegetarianism on whether people feel...
Beluga whales have sensitive hearing, little age-related loss
Scientists published the first hearing tests on a wild population of healthy marine mammals. The tests on beluga whales in Bristol Bay, Alaska, revealed that the whales have sensitive hearing abilities and the number of animals that experienced extensive hearing losses was far less than what scientists had anticipated.
The latter findings contrasted with expectations from...
When you're a sitting duck, you learn to adapt
When sitting on a nest to incubate eggs, a bird is physically stuck and most vulnerable to attacks of any kind, so coping without stress and other significant costs is important. For Common Loons, black flies are a common blood-feeding pest and can cause nest abandonment and decreased fledging rates. This has impacts on not...
Do bats adapt to gates at abandoned mines?
Abandoned mines can serve as roost sites for bats, but because the mines pose serious risks to humans, officials often install gates at their entrances. With more than 80,000 abandoned mines in the southwestern United States, these subterranean habitats are important to bat survival as human disturbances from recreation and other activities at natural caves...