Animal behaviour

News & Views | 15 May 2024

Parental-care puzzle in mice solved by thinking outside the brain

Both parents of oldfield mice care for offspring, whereas in deer mice, mothers usually care for pups. The discovery of a type of adrenal-gland cell that is present in oldfield mice but not in deer mice helps to explain the difference.

Jessica Tollkuhn

Nature Podcast | 15 May 2024

Lizard-inspired building design could save lives

How knocking down a building helped researchers design a safer structure, and a sustainable 3D printing resin made from a bodybuilding supplement.

Benjamin Thompson
& Elizabeth Gibney

Research Highlight | 10 May 2024

These parrots go on killing sprees over real-estate shortages

Scientists recorded green-rumped parrotlets pecking others’ chicks to death, probably to claim the nest space.

News | 05 May 2024

Puppy-dog eyes in wild canines sparks rethink on dog evolution

The eyebrows of the African wild dog have scientists wondering whether other dogs can make the irresistible ‘puppy-dog eyes’ expression.

Gillian Dohrn

News & Views | 03 May 2024

Streamlined skull helps foxes take a nosedive

Some fox species leap up and pounce head first into snow to capture prey that they hear below the surface. An analysis of the forces involved reveals how the shape of the skull has evolved to minimize damage from this behaviour.

Mary Abraham

News | 02 May 2024

‘Orangutan, heal thyself’: First wild animal seen using medicinal plant

The Sumatran orangutan used a plant known to humans for its medicinal qualities.

Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Correspondence | 30 April 2024

Zoos should focus on animal welfare before claiming to champion conservation

Donald Broom
, Hsiao Mei Yeh
& Shawn Peng

Research Briefing | 29 April 2024

Elephant-nose fish ‘see’ farther by electric sensing when in groups

The elephant-nose fish senses its environment by emitting electrical pulses. A multi-pronged investigation suggests that this remarkable sensing ability is amplified in social groups by individuals ‘listening in’ on the pulses of their neighbours.

News & Views | 23 April 2024

Charles Darwin investigates: the curious case of primrose punishment

Birds emerge as top suspects for unexplained flower mutilation, and reflections from 1974 mark the 21st anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

News | 22 April 2024

Your perception of time is skewed by what you see

Features of a scene such as size and clutter can affect the brain’s sense of how much time has passed while observing it.

Lilly Tozer

News | 18 April 2024

Why queasiness kills hunger: brain circuit identified

Feelings of hunger, nausea and fullness seem to be governed by separate brain circuits, finds a study in mice.

Gillian Dohrn

Nature Video | 17 April 2024

AI and robotics demystify the workings of a fly's wing

New research unveils the workings of one of the most complex bio-mechanical structures in the natural world

Dan Fox

Spotlight | 17 April 2024

I dive for fish in the longest freshwater lake in the world

Biologist Carolin Sommer-Trembo describes her fascination for fish and why she enjoys doing science in Switzerland.

Nikki Forrester

Research Highlight | 15 April 2024

A spa session for humpback whales

The gigantic animals have worked out an unusual way to exfoliate — a perfect way to deal with whale lice.

Obituary | 10 April 2024

Frans de Waal (1948–2024), primatologist who questioned the uniqueness of human minds

Researcher and prolific science communicator who laid bare the social lives of apes.

Andrew Whiten

Book Review | 09 April 2024

The comings and goings of ants: how are social skills shaped in an ever-changing world?

A colourful study of the natural history of ants that takes in dry deserts and lush forests aims to show that sociality is shaped by, and changes with, the environment.

Seirian Sumner

Book Review | 08 April 2024

Survival of the nicest: have we got evolution the wrong way round?

How humans, animals and even single-celled organisms cooperate to survive suggests there’s more to life than just competition, argues a cheering study of evolutionary biology.

Jonathan R. Goodman

Nature Podcast | 03 April 2024

Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg

We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.

Benjamin Thompson
, Noah Baker
& Flora Graham

News & Views | 20 March 2024

Birds convey complex signals in simple songs

The quality of a bird’s song during courtship can influence whether a male is selected as a mate. An innovative approach using machine learning offers a way to analyse the characteristics of birdsong.

Kate T. Snyder
& Nicole Creanza

News & Views | 13 March 2024

Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolved

Why do several species of whale experience menopause, and why does the phenomenon occur at all? Analysing whale data might help to answer these questions and shed light on why menopause evolved in humans.

Rebecca Sear

Article
13 March 2024 | Open Access

The evolution of menopause in toothed whales

A comparative analysis tests competing evolutionary hypotheses in toothed whales in which menopause has evolved many times as females extended their overall lifespan but not their reproductive lifespan, increasing their opportunity for intergenerational help without increasing intergenerational reproductive competition.

Samuel Ellis
, Daniel W. Franks
& Darren P. Croft

News Q&A | 07 March 2024

Meet the real-life versions of Dune’s epic sandworms

A Dune-loving worm palaeontologist makes the case that worms have been just as important on Earth as they are in the blockbuster film.

Julian Nowogrodzki

Nature Video | 06 March 2024

Bumblebees show behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans

The bees learn how to complete a two-step puzzle too complex to solve independently, by watching other bees.

Dan Fox

News & Views | 06 March 2024

Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone

It has been argued that human culture rests on a unique ability to learn from others more than we could possibly learn alone in a lifetime. Two studies show that we share this ability with bumblebees and chimpanzees.

Alex Thornton

Article
06 March 2024 | Open Access

Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone

Bumblebees can learn how to open a two-step puzzle box by observing another trained bee, indicating that these insects can use social learning to acquire a behaviour too complex to otherwise be learnt through individual trial and error.

Alice D. Bridges
, Amanda Royka
& Lars Chittka

Obituary | 01 March 2024

Christophe Boesch (1951–2024), primatologist and chimpanzee champion

Zoologist whose understanding of chimpanzee behaviours has helped to assure their survival.

Kathelijne Koops
& Richard Wrangham

Nature Podcast | 26 February 2024

Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them

Endangered apes are increasingly being put at risk by human diseases.

Rachel Nuwer
& Benjamin Thompson

Nature Podcast | 22 February 2024

How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved

Baleen whales sing using a modified larynx, but this leaves them them unable to escape human noise.

News & Views | 21 February 2024

An innovative way for whales to sing

Mammals make sounds when air flow causes paired tissue folds in their voice box to oscillate. However, such air flow in the baleen group of whales takes an unusual path, enabling them to make sounds in a previously unknown way.

Joy S. Reidenberg

Research Highlight | 14 February 2024

What a tease! Great apes pull hair and poke each other for fun

The animals’ shenanigans hint that mischievous play evolved well before Homo sapiens did.

Research Highlight | 06 February 2024

‘Altruistic’ bull elephant seal lends a helping flipper

Male elephant seals generally have nothing to do with pups — but astounded scientists observed a notable exception.

News & Views | 06 February 2024

How population size shapes the evolution of guppy fish

A long-term fish experiment reveals how a mechanism called density dependence, in which the population growth rate slows as the number of individuals rises, affects population dynamics on time scales relevant for ecology and evolution.

Bernt-Erik Sæther

News & Views | 06 February 2024

Absence of female partners can explain the dawn chorus of birds

Why birds sing intensely in a dawn chorus during the early morning has long been debated. Evidence gathered from observing birds in the wild offers a fresh perspective on what might drive this phenomenon.

Diego Gil

Nature Video | 30 January 2024

‘Like a moth to a flame’ — this strange insect behaviour is finally explained

Many explanations have been put forward for insects’ attraction to light, but high tech cameras now suggest a different answer.

Dan Fox

News | 25 January 2024

This fast-living marsupial chooses sex over sleep — and dies young

Male antechinus make the most of their single breeding season by forgoing shut-eye.

Sara Reardon

News Feature | 16 January 2024

Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them

Humans are increasingly passing pathogens to animal populations, imperilling endangered species such as chimpanzees and gorillas.

Rachel Nuwer

Nature Podcast | 10 January 2024

The science stories you missed over the holiday period

We highlight some of the Nature Briefing’s stories from the end of 2023, including a polar bear fur-inspired sweater, efforts to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample canister, and a dinosaur’s last dinner.