evolutionary biology
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What Scientists Saw When They Put A Crocodile In An MRI Scanner And Played Classical Music
In a scientific first, researchers have used an MRI scanner to study the brains of Nile crocodiles. Sounds weird – and even a bit dangerous – but the experiment is revealing new insights into the evolution of brains and how mammals and birds acquired the capacity to comprehend complex sounds.
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This Extinct Frog Probably Ate Crocodiles And Dinosaurs
Image: Nobu Tamura/Wikimedia Commons Poison aside, frogs are generally weak and pathetic. Dinosaurs, meanwhile, range from weak and pathetic to huge and strong, so I’m going to say they’re generally “not weak.” But 70 million years ago, things were different. Extinct species of frogs like the Beelzebufo ampinga grew to be ten pounds in size.…
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480-Million-Year-Old Slug Looks Like A Horrifying Mutated Bathmat
Four hundred and eighty million years ago, a slug-like ancestor of modern snails and clams had hundreds of tiny teeth, a body covered in prickly spines and a built-in helmet. Called Calvapilosa, it’s one of the earliest — and weirdest — molluscs ever discovered.
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The Totally Insane Way That Breast Milk Works
I know breast milk is good and all, but when I became a mum I was kinda shocked at how often it was cited as a cure-all for anything that ailed my newborn. That’s not just because of the nutritional value. It turns out my baby’s immune system is communicating with mine THROUGH MY NIPPLES.…