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Evolution Aug 22, 2026

Animal genomes follow irreversible 'evolutionary highways' across thousands of species

A human, an octopus, and a coral could hardly look more different—yet deep inside their cells, their chromosomes still carry recognizable pieces of a genome inherited from an animal ancestor that lived more than 600 million ...

Plants & Animals Aug 19, 2026

Italian scientists bet on octopus to fight crab invasion

From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries.

Plants & Animals Aug 13, 2026

Soft-bodied sea slug reconfigures anatomy to simplify feeding control

Made entirely of muscle, with no rigid skeleton, muscular hydrostats like octopus arms, elephant trunks and human tongues can move in ways traditional mechanical systems cannot. Between crawling across the seafloor, picking ...

Plants & Animals Aug 11, 2026

Dolphins learn how to use tools to hunt for fish from their mothers

From spears and the invention of the wheel to smartphones and robots, human societies have been building and using tools from the beginning. Human tool use has helped conquer new environments, increase communication and ultimately ...

Ecology Aug 10, 2026

Australia is home to the only mass cuttlefish gathering in the world. This year these giants didn't return

This year's cuttlefish season has been unlike any other. Every winter, more than 100,000 giant Australian cuttlefish can usually be found mating along the rocky coastline of Point Lowly, northeast of Whyalla, South Australia. ...

Evolution Jul 29, 2026

Early Cambrian fossil uncovers key buoyancy structure at the dawn of cephalopod evolution

Extant and ancient cephalopods—including octopuses, squids, extinct ammonites, cuttlefish and nautiluses—have all had to solve the problem of buoyancy, whether they have hard external shells or not.

Plants & Animals Jul 29, 2026

In biology of cells, octopus has another trick up its sleeve

The octopus is a biological oddity. It can use tools, open jars, and its complex nervous system supports as many neurons as a small primate. Now Harvard biologists have discovered a mysterious distinction in octopuses' core ...

Plants & Animals Jul 22, 2026

Left or right? Moths use a preferred side to inspect flowers for nectar

Just as humans exhibit right- or left-handedness, moths also have a preferred side on which they place their proboscis when inspecting a flower for nectar. This observation was made by Konstanz-based biologists in their latest ...

Plants & Animals Jul 20, 2026

Rare sighting reveals Arctic bobtail squid and egg masses in subzero Greenland fjord

Marine biologists have observed the Arctic bobtail squid in its natural habitat in the North Atlantic Ocean for the first time, including the rare discovery of a mature female with eggs. Dr Paige Maroni, from The University ...

Plants & Animals Jul 8, 2026

Ocean acidification may be shrinking the brains of the world's most intelligent invertebrates

An ongoing research project exploring the effects of rising levels of oceanic CO2 on squid neurology reveals that exposure to future levels of ocean acidification could shrink their brain volume by around 50%. This severe ...

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