#EcologyResearch

Crown-of-thorns starfish are notorious for devouring coral reefs, but surprising new research reveals these spiny predators may actually help reefs thrive when their populations are kept in check.…

Scientists have uncovered a strange pattern in urban bird behavior: Across five European countries and 37 species, birds consistently fled sooner when approached by women than men.…

A nationwide search for giant crayfish uncovered a record-breaking Tennessee specimen and a surprising mystery about how big these freshwater creatures can grow.…

A major research study is challenging one of evolution’s most influential ideas: that most genetic changes that become permanent are essentially neutral.…

Scientists have discovered Labrujasuchus expectatus, a bizarre crocodile relative that looked more like an ostrich-like dinosaur than anything resembling a modern crocodile.…

Deep inside 100-million-year-old amber from Myanmar, scientists uncovered a bizarre ancient bug with clawed front legs that look more like a crab’s pincers than anything seen in modern insects.…

Hidden deep in the towering mountains of the Himalayas, one of Asia’s most mysterious venomous snakes has been keeping a major secret for over 160 years.…

A sea slug smaller than a sesame seed has turned up in Taiwan’s coastal waters — and it’s so tiny and unusual that scientists realized they had discovered a completely new species.…

Researchers created a special kind of algae that can grab microscopic plastic pollution out of water almost like a magnet. The algae produce limonene, an orange-scented oil that helps them bind to water-repelling microplastics, forming easy-to-remove…

Scientists may have found a powerful new way to hunt for alien life — not by searching for specific molecules, but by looking for hidden patterns in how those molecules are organized.…

Scientists have uncovered a surprising way to influence the bacteria living in our mouths — not by killing them, but by interrupting how they “talk” to each other.…

Tyrannosaurs may be famous as fearsome apex predators, but new research reveals a more opportunistic—and slightly grim—side to their behavior.…

Oak trees have a surprising trick to fight back against hungry caterpillars: they simply wait. When trees are heavily attacked one year, they delay leaf growth by just three days the next spring—long enough to leave newly hatched caterpillars with nothing…

A bizarre rainforest insect is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about camouflage. A katydid spotted glowing hot pink in Panama stunned researchers when it slowly transformed into green in just 11 days, perfectly mirroring the life cycle of…

Deep in a dried-up riverbed in Brazil, scientists uncovered a bizarre prehistoric mystery—twisted jawbones from a strange, long-lost animal unlike anything seen before.…

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new picture of human origins that challenges the long-held idea of a single ancestral population in Africa.…

The famous mezcal “worm” has long puzzled scientists, but DNA testing has finally cracked the case. Researchers found that all sampled larvae were actually agave redworm moth caterpillars—not a mix of species as once believed.…

As Alaska’s rivers warm, invasive northern pike are becoming noticeably more voracious. Scientists discovered that pike of all ages are eating more fish, with young pike increasing consumption by over 60%.…

In the Arizona desert, scientists have uncovered a bizarre and almost unbelievable partnership between ants: tiny cone ants acting as “cleaners” for much larger harvester ants.…

A new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is overturning a decades-old belief that Indigenous Hawaiians hunted native waterbirds to extinction.…