Rodents may have a rule of thumbnails. Many rodents have curved claws that help the animals climb or dig. But most also have flat nails on their thumbs, researchers report in the Sept. 4 Science. This ...

In the ’90s cartoon “Pinky and the Brain,” the titular Brain — a scheming lab mouse with an outsize noggin — fantasized about taking over the world. A study published Thursday in Science posits that ...

The humble rodent “thumb” may not seem like an obvious window into evolution, but its keratinized tip – the unguis (hoof, claw, or nail) – turns out to reveal striking insights into rodent history and ...

Foot bones that are separate in small hopping rodents are fused in their larger cousins, and a team of researchers at the University of Michigan and University of California, San Diego wanted to know ...

The legions of squirrels breaking into backyard bird feeders benefit from a surprising trait developed over millions of years—tiny hands with four claws and a human-looking thumbnail. This combination ...

Foot bones that are separate in small hopping rodents are fused in their larger cousins, and a team of researchers wanted to know why. Foot bones that are separate in small hopping rodents are fused ...