...layer that characterizes the melanin distribution within an iridescent feather. We don't see that in a crow or other plain black bird." True Colors Matthew Shawkey is a biologist who studies the evolution of feather color at the University of Akron in Ohio. The evidence for iridescent-producing melanosomes is convincing, Shawkey said, but he urged caution in using the pigment-containing capsules...

"Extinct" Booby Exposed -- Found "Masked," Using Alias Matt Kaplan for National Geographic News August 11, 2009 Disguises and aliases might seem like the stuff of spy movies, but real-world scientific...is a little different," Steeves added. "We are the first to rediscover a bird in the laboratory." Findings to be published tomorrow in the journal Biology Letters. Source likes saying "booby"

Deep in the jungle primeval, Nepenthes attenboroughii awaits its furry prey. But N. attenboroughii isn't a stealthy cat or poisonous lizard. It's a plant, and it eats rats. Scientists recently discovered...explain the whole process, as well as the life cycle of pitcher plants, here's a video narrated by none other than N. attenboroughii's namesake, David Attenborough himself. Source has pictures

Cats Use Special Purr to Manipulate Humans Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News July 13, 2009 -- Cat owners who think their cats control them now have some scientific confirmation: Animal vocalization...to sleep, and purrs at me until I pet her.  Sometimes she even forces her head under my hand and then walks slowly so I have to pet her.  Anyone else have any manipulative feline friends?  Source