Once believed to be unique to birds and mammals, sleep is found across the metazoan kingdom. Some animals, it seems, can’t live without it, though no one knows exactly why.

Researchers aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which a single genotype gives rise to diverse castes in eusocial organisms.

Our perception of quantity, separate from counting or estimation of magnitude more generally, is foundational to human cognition, according to some neuroscientists.

The University of St. Andrews behavioral ecologist studies the social structures and behaviors of whales and dolphins, recording and analyzing their acoustic communications.

Sexual selection doesn’t end when females choose a mate. Females and males of many animal species employ an array of tactics to stack the deck in their reproductive favor.

Researchers are borrowing designs from the natural world to advance biomedicine.

Optical techniques for monitoring action potentials

Marine threespine sticklebacks haven't morphologically changed in an estimated 10 million years, but their freshwater offshoots show no signs of slowing down. These 5-cm-long, freshwater fish have undergone a recent evolutionary change, variably losing their calcified body armor and retractable pelvic and dorsal spines. Remarkably, isolated marine and freshwater sticklebacks can be hybridized in the laboratory, a fact that is allowing researchers to analyze the genetics behind their natural dive

Life scientists have been challenged more than ever this year not just to critically analyze data, but to better interpret those data for an increasingly critical public.