Over one-fifth of native North American pollinators at elevated risk of extinction
A pivotal new study led by NatureServe reveals that more than 22% of native pollinators in North America are at…
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Thorny skates come in snack and party sizes. After a century of guessing, scientists now know why
When Jeff Kneebone was a college student in 2002, his research involved a marine mystery that has stumped curious scientists…
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Unique dove species is the dodo of the Caribbean and in similar danger of dying out
On first inspection, the Cuban blue-headed quail dove doesn’t look like much: drab brown feathers, a slender beak, a pronounced…
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A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal
For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early…
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The yucca and the moth: How extreme weather impacts the timing of biological events
Whether it is flowers sprouting in the spring, cicadas mating in the blistering heat of summer, or caterpillars hatching to…
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Underwater fossil bed discovered by collectors preserves rare slice of Florida’s past
About half a million years ago, several horses, sloths and armadillos fell into a sinkhole in Florida’s Big Bend region…
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Unprovoked shark bites plummeted in 2024
2024 was an exceptionally calm year for shark bites. Worldwide, there were only 47 unprovoked attacks, down 22 from the…
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Decades-long study shows this endangered butterfly benefits from hurricanes
Sometimes, nature’s surprises come with wings. In a new study, scientists pulled from a 35-year dataset to examine long-term population…
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This mysterious plant fossil belongs to a family that no longer exists
In 1969, fossilized leaves of the species Othniophyton elongatum — which translates to “alien plant” — were identified in eastern…
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Scientists can now predict how climate change will alter plant growth cycles
On February 2, 1887, residents of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania consulted a large rodent regarding the arrival of spring, marking the first…
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