Biology

Sharks pre-date even the earliest dinosaurs, so it's not surprising to hear that they've changed over the years. It was recently discovered, for instance, that they were once able to rotate the two sides of their jaw outwards, helping them to feed.

The skeletal structure of a fish's gill arches and paired fins are quite similar – enough so that it was once believed the fins evolved from the arches. Although that theory has since been discounted, a new study suggests it may have been correct.

When natural ocean shoreline is replaced by an artificial seawall, a lot of precious intertidal habitat is lost. A new study, however, indicates that by covering those walls with specially designed tiles, a substitute habitat can be created.

A new study has delved into underwater behavior of remora, producing the first-ever continuous recordings of these so-called suckerfish in action and showing how they surf, feed and even socialize on the surface of blue whales.

Researchers have developed a way to treat male infertility by delivering nanoparticles loaded with proteins directly into the testes. In tests in mice, previously infertile animals were soon able to father pups at a similar rate as unaffected mice.

If the movie Jurassic World is to be believed, pterosaurs could easily catch human-sized prey. A newly discovered species of the prehistoric reptile wouldn't have posed much of a threat to us, however, as it likely fed more like a modern sandpiper.

The tardigrade is one of nature’s toughest creatures. Now scientists have discovered a new species that adds to an already impressive array of survival tools by employing a type of fluorescent shield to protect itself against lethal UV radiation.

Some are born with three arteries in their forearm, and a new study is suggesting more and more people are holding onto this temporary embryonic artery into adulthood, which the researchers believe could be natural selection at work.

The mosasaur was likely one of the most ferocious prehistoric marine predators. A previously unknown species of the reptile has now been classified, and it sported a crocodile-like snout that may have allowed it to catch prey that others missed.

A persistent scientific mystery over the past century has been exactly how some animals seemingly have the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. A team of researchers are suggesting the magnetic-sensing bacteria could be symbiotically generating this novel sense.

After only 162 years, the first complete dinosaur skeleton to be recovered has finally been properly reconstructed and studied. The 193-million-year-old remains of a Scelidosaurus spent over 150 years stored at the Natural History Museum in London.

A new experiment placing bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) has found that micro-organisms can survive in space for years, or even decades. The study lends weight to the idea that life could travel between planets.