In the icy waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a new study reveals how a small population of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) survive the long haul through a surprising strategy: they mate with multiple partners over several years. The combination of long-term genetics, observation and careful analysis is starting to reveal some of the most intimate […]
When it comes to teeth, vertebrates have a lot in common. No matter the shape, size or sharpness, teeth share genetic origins, physical characteristics and, of course, a home in the jaw. New findings call into question one of these core assumptions. Spotted ratfish, a shark-like species native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean, have rows […]
Chickadees are interested in scents. That’s the news from a study out of Lehigh University, the first to document naturally hybridizing songbirds’ preference for the smell of their own species. Amber Rice, an evolutionary biologist at Lehigh, studies hybridization — when separate species come into contact and mate — to better understand how species originate […]
On the North Slope of Alaska, snow is melting earlier in the spring and the snow-in date is happening later in the fall, according to a new study by Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers. Atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions are behind this lengthening […]