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 ...

Now, in a new study, Milinkovitch and his team reported that the polygonal head scales form due to the growth and compression of skin, which creates a self-organizing pattern of folds. 2 These ...

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 ...