Zebras and tigers have stripes, cheetahs and leopards have spots, and the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) boasts a labyrinthine pattern of black-and-green chains of scales. Now researchers from the ...

Many animals get their external marking — such as, feathers, hair or scales-from genetics. But it turns out, the crocodile gets its head patterns differently. (Story aired on ATC on Dec. 11, 202.) We ...

The shape-shifting clouds of starling birds, the organization of neural networks or the structure of an anthill: nature is full of complex systems whose behaviors can be modeled using mathematical ...

In the damp warmth of a crocodile’s egg, something extraordinary unfolds. The tiny embryo’s face begins to ripple and fold in a pattern that will become the fearsome array of scales we recognize on a ...

For the first time ever, scientists have created genetically modified snakes. The CRISPR-edited reptiles are providing new insight into how corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) develop their precisely ...

Many animals get their external marking—like, feathers, hair or scales-from genetics. But it turns out, the crocodile gets its head patterns differently. Scientists normally explain the spectacular ...

Scientists normally explain the spectacular diversity of animal patterns by pointing to genetics. But a study in Nature suggests that, at least for crocodile heads, different forces might be at play.

We pursue one of the mysteries of the incredible variety of animals that you find in nature. NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports on a study in the journal Nature. JONATHAN LAMBERT, BYLINE: Biologist Michel ...