'Ugly' fossil places extinct saber-toothed cat on Texas coast This fossil looks like a lumpy, rounded rock with a couple of exposed teeth that are a little worse for wear, having been submerged and tumbled along the floor of the Gulf of Mexico for thousands of years before washing up on a beach. But when it was X-rayed a doctoral student saw there was more to the fossil that met the eye: a hidden canine tooth that had not yet erupted from the jaw bone. It was just what researchers needed to identify the fossil as belonging to a Homotherium, a genus of large cat that roamed much of the Earth for millions of years.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Chicken feathers to deliver chemotherapy drugs and repair enzymes A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new research suggests.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Acute sense of touch helps hummingbirds hover near a flower without bumping into it Hummingbird flight mechanics have been well studied but far less is known about how their sense of touch helps them sip nectar from a flower without bumping into it. Most of what scientists know about how touch is processed in the brain comes from studies on mammals, but bird brains are very different from mammal brains. New research shows that touch and air pressure on the wings and legs activate specific clusters of neurons in two regions of the forebrain to create a map of their body, which may help hummingbirds make nuanced adjustments to flight.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Orchids support seedlings through 'parental nurture' via shared underground fungal networks Orchid plants nurture their seedlings via an underground fungal network, new research has revealed.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Why do Dyeing poison frogs tap dance? The toe tapping behavior of various amphibians has long attracted attention from researchers and pet owners. Despite being widely documented, the underlying functional role is poorly understood. In a new paper, researchers demonstrate that Dyeing poison frogs modulate their taps based on specific stimuli.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405