Lipid droplets in the kidneys may help cats maintain a consistent chemical “scent identity.” Scent marks can linger long after an animal has moved on, allowing urine and other chemical signals to carry information across both distance and time. Yet the molecules responsible for odor do not remain unchanged. They evaporate, break down, and shift [...]

Dinosaurs evolved into some of the largest animals ever to walk the Earth, but a new mathematical model suggests that early mammals may have crowded them out of the ecological niches reserved for the smallest creatures.

The post Why Were There No Tiny Non-Avian Dinosaurs? Mammals May Have Been to Blame appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Domestic cats (Felis catus) develop the same patterns of brain shrinkage and neurological decline as aging humans, and scientists think that makes them an ideal window into dementia and aging.

The post Domestic Cats Age Like Humans, New Study Shows appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Paleontologists have identified a previously unknown species of amphicyonid -- the extinct family of carnivorous mammals popularly known as bear-dogs -- from two specimens unearthed at a rich fossil site in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona, Spain.

The post New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In new research, scientists sequenced and analyzed chromosome-level genomes of the Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and the southern anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla).

The post Secret to Sloths’ Slow Life May Lie in Ancient ‘Jumping Genes’ appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.