Animals
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By Hannah Rand
Stray labrador rescues blind pooch by becoming first canine-to-canine guide dog | Mail Online
29 July 2011 Last updated at 02:29 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The dish-shaped leaves emit a powerful echo that helps the bat locate the plant A rainforest vine has evolved dish-shaped leaves to attract the bats that pollinate it, scientists have found. Tests revealed that the leaves were supremely efficient at bouncing back the sound pulses the flying mammals used to navigate. When the leaves were present the bats located the plant twice as quickly as when these echoing leaves were removed.
BBC Nature - Plant evolved a bat beckoning beacon
Wik-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees
The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops.
BBC Nature - Fossil 'is first pregnant lizard'
21 July 2011 Last updated at 04:58 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The lizard was just days from giving birth when it died and was buried A 120-million-year-old fossil is the oldest pregnant lizard ever discovered, according to scientists. The fossil, found in China, is a very complete 30cm (12in) lizard with more than a dozen embryos in its body. Researchers from University College London, who studied the fossil, say it was just days from giving birth when it died and was buried during the Cretaceous period. The team reports the findings in the journal Naturwissenschaften.