The physiological demands of that long neck get support from a gene involved in strengthening bones and blood vessels, researchers find after inserting the sequence in mice.
In yellow-green and purple versions of the reef-building Acropora tenuis, the genes that code for particular fluorescent and other colorful proteins become more active in the summer, protecting symbiotic algae from thermal stress and resisting bleaching.
The animals kill off around one-quarter of the neurons in their somatosensory cortex, perhaps to save energy, and the cells appear to return the following summer.
As global temperatures rise and winters shorten, caterpillars of the corn borer moth are emerging earlier in parts of the US thanks to changes in two genes, researchers find.
The adaptation gives better endurance to the Bajau people, known as sea nomads, by increasing spleen size and, in turn, boosting the number of oxygenated red blood cells when diving.