Saving the graft was critical so the medical team proposed a treatment that surprised Lofgreen: leeches. “I was absolutely floored,” says the 31-year-old Idaho resident. “My initial reaction was, Okay ...

The biological history of leeches is difficult to study: Their tissue decomposes almost immediately, and their boneless bodies rarely fossilize. But a geological formation in Wisconsin preserved a ...

It's the beginning of the spooky season, which means ghouls, ghosts, and bloodsuckers abound. One of the most famous bloodsuckers in nature is, of course, the leech. These parasites feed on blood and ...

White men can’t jump, but terrestrial leeches can. This is now a scientific fact; after centuries of anecdotal reports, the parasites have been caught on video leaping from leaves in the Madagascan ...

A 430-million-year-old fossil has rewritten leech history, showing they are at least 200 million years older than previously believed. Unlike today’s bloodsucking leeches, their ancient ancestors ...

A chance video by a grad student relishing her first big field trip might help resolve an argument that’s raged among biologists for more than a century. The question: Can leeches jump? Yes, at least ...

The bloodsucking worms might conjure an era of vampiric pseudoscience, but their powerful jaws are inspiring new applications. By Zoey Poll The average patient today, confronted with the prospect of ...

Northumbria University, Newcastle provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. As we tidy away the Dracula capes and glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs for another winter, one notorious blood ...