Pterosaur discovery solves ancient feather mystery

An international team of paleontologists has discovered remarkable new evidence that pterosaurs, the flying relatives of dinosaurs, were able to control the color of their feathers using melanin pigments.

How the zebrafish got its stripes

Animal patterns—the stripes, spots and rosettes seen in the wild—are a source of endless fascination, and now researchers at the University Bath have developed a robust mathematical model to explain how one important ...

Researchers investigate how squid communicate in the dark

In the frigid waters 1,500 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of human-sized Humboldt squid feed on a patch of finger-length lantern fish. Zipping past each other, the predators move with exceptional precision, ...

How the zebrafish got its stripes

Stripes are common in our lives. It's a pretty basic pattern, and easy to take for granted.

An eye gene colors butterfly wings red

Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By using the same signal, ...