Animals and plants around the world are not randomly distributed. They appear to follow trends and patterns. But it's often difficult to figure out if the patterns we see in the natural world actually ...

Scientists trying to work out where a starfish’s head is have come to a startling conclusion: it is effectively the whole animal. As well as solving this longstanding mystery, the finding will help us ...

Some starfish made of a brittle material fortify themselves with architectural antics. Beneath a starfish’s skin lies a skeleton made of pebbly growths, called ossicles, which mostly consist of the ...

Starfish embryos can organise themselves into large, oscillating crystals at the surface of water. These structures, which had never been seen before, may form because of the embryos’ swimming style ...

A chance discovery of a beautifully preserved fossil in the desert landscape of Morocco has solved one of the great mysteries of biology and palaeontology: how starfish evolved their arms. Starfish ...