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A tomography image in greyscale of snake tissues
Snakes Have Clitorises After All, Study Finds
Researchers visualize the snake clitoris in detail for the first time, finding evidence that the organ may be evolutionarily important for snake sex.
Snakes Have Clitorises After All, Study Finds
Snakes Have Clitorises After All, Study Finds

Researchers visualize the snake clitoris in detail for the first time, finding evidence that the organ may be evolutionarily important for snake sex.

Researchers visualize the snake clitoris in detail for the first time, finding evidence that the organ may be evolutionarily important for snake sex.

mating

Infographic showing genetic and social monogamy in birds
Infographic: A New Look at Monogamy Across the Animal Kingdom
Catherine Offord | Jun 1, 2022 | 2 min read
Advances in genetics in recent years has revealed that many apparently exclusive pairs in fact sometimes mate with individuals other than their partner, but social monogamy is widespread.
illustration of purple mitochondrion within a cell
Rogue Mitochondria Turn Hermaphroditic Snails Female: Study
Patience Asanga | May 19, 2022 | 3 min read
The accidental finding marks the first time a phenomenon called cytoplasmic sterility, known to occur in plants, has been found in animals.
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What's Mine is Yours: The Immunogenetics of Mating in Anglerfish
Sejal Davla, PhD | 1 min read
A suppressed immune system in anglerfish uncovers potential strategies for tissue transplantation.
Readout of acoustic camera indicating individual male frogs and the frequency of their mating call
Science Snapshot: Identifying Individual Frogs In A Chorus
Lisa Winter | Apr 29, 2022 | 1 min read
Using an acoustic camera, researchers were able to locate individual male wood frogs by their mating calls and determine which songs the females liked best.
Philoponella prominens spiders mating
Spiders Catapult Themselves to Avoid Becoming Their Mate’s Meal
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Apr 25, 2022 | 2 min read
During their escape, male spiders can reach speeds in excess of 3 kilometers per hour thanks to their springy front legs.
A headshot of Matthew Gage
Evolutionary Ecologist Matthew Gage Dies at 55
Amanda Heidt | Apr 20, 2022 | 3 min read
The University of East Anglia researcher was best known for his contributions to the study of sexual selection, particularly post-copulatory sperm competition.
Three baboons sitting on a tree, looking at the camera
To Mate or Not to Mate? Baboons’ Inbreeding Defense Is Biased
Saugat Bolakhe | Mar 25, 2022 | 3 min read
Researchers find that wild baboons are generally good at avoiding inbreeding, but that it’s more likely to occur with paternal than maternal relatives.
Wild water striders (Microvelia longipes) on a puddle. The animals with long third legs are the males; the others are females.
A Multipurpose Gene Facilitates the Evolution of an Animal Weapon
Viviane Callier | May 11, 2021 | 4 min read
A single gene called BMP11 regulates not only the size and proportions of a water strider’s massively long third legs, but also how it uses the limbs in fights.
Tropical Birds Differ in Their Responses to Drought
Shawna Williams | Nov 1, 2020 | 2 min read
Long-lived species decrease their reproduction more than short-lived species in response to lower-than-normal precipitation, and thereby gain a survival advantage, a study finds.
The Hidden World of Millipede Sex
Yao-Hua Law | Jun 1, 2020 | 4 min read
Researchers use advanced imaging techniques to see what happens when a male and a female mate.
fruit fly drosophila melanogaster sperm sex peptide memory reproduction
Sex Promotes Lasting Memories in Female Flies
Ruth Williams | Nov 20, 2019 | 3 min read
A protein present in the ejaculate of male fruit flies activates long-term memory formation in the brains of their female partners.
Monkey Hybrids Challenge Assumptions of What a Species Is
Jim Daley | May 3, 2018 | 4 min read
A study finds two species of guenon monkeys in Tanzania have been mating and producing fertile offspring for generations.
Image of the Day: Bird-of-Paradise
The Scientist Staff and The Scientist Staff | Apr 25, 2018 | 1 min read
A unique courtship dance clued researchers in to the fact that they had a new species on their hands.
Bowhead Whales Impress Researchers With Their Song Diversity
Catherine Offord | Apr 4, 2018 | 2 min read
A group of around 300 whales produced 184 distinct songs over just a few years, according to a new study.
Image of the Day: Rainbow Butt
The Scientist Staff and The Scientist Staff | Jan 4, 2018 | 1 min read
Scientists explore why male peacock spiders are so colorful. 
Sound of the Day: Big Mouth Gulf Corvina
The Scientist Staff and The Scientist Staff | Dec 20, 2017 | 1 min read
Researchers document the loudest sound ever recorded in fish.
Song of Ourselves
Bob Grant | Mar 1, 2017 | 3 min read
“Nature’s melodies” may be a human construct that says more about us than about the musicality of other animals.
Tune Into the Animal Kingdom
The Scientist Staff | Feb 28, 2017 | 1 min read
A survey of sounds from birds to whales to fruit flies to fish
Hot Off the Presses
Bob Grant | Aug 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Idiot Brain, Wild Sex, Why Diets Make Us Fat, and The Ethics of Invention
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