Animals

A dog being hitched to a travois in an 1844 painting by Karl Bodmer.

Ancient Dogs Weren't the Workhorses We Thought They Were

A spinal condition thought to be caused by carrying heavy loads is actually a function of age, a new study finds

I can haz Snausage?

Dogs Evolved a Special Muscle That Lets Them Make 'Puppy Dog Eyes'

Wolves don't have the muscle to make that classic wide-eyed gaze, suggesting strong evolutionary pressures were at play in our pooches

A spotted salamander inside a pitcher plant.

Pitcher Plants Have Been Quietly Snacking on Baby Salamanders

It was previously thought that the plants rarely ate vertebrate animals

The specimen is the first (partial) carcass of an adult Pleistocene steppe wolf—an extinct lineage distinct from modern wolves—ever found

A Perfectly Preserved 32,000-Year-Old Wolf Head Was Found in Siberian Permafrost

Given the head’s state of preservation, researchers are hopeful that they can extract viable DNA and use it to sequence the wolf’s genome

An individual who opts for chicken over beef every day for a year could lower their emissions by roughly the same amount released by driving a car for 3,700 miles

Choose Chicken Over Beef to Dramatically Cut Carbon Footprint, Study Shows

By swapping beef for a poultry-based product just once a day, an individual can reduce their dietary carbon footprint by around 48 percent

Another newly described species, "Litoria vivissimia," has a similarly pointed nose

Meet the Newly Described Long-Nosed Pinocchio Frog

The tree frog’s nose alternately sticks out straight or droops downward—much like a certain fictional wooden puppet

When you're sad, it makes your dog sad.

Keep Calm and Don’t Stress Out the Dog

When humans feel anxious, their dogs do too, according to new study

A German Circus Uses Stunning Holograms Instead of Live Animal Performers

Circus Roncalli is preserving the tradition of animal acts while eliminating concerns of animal cruelty

The Chinese giant salamander is the world's largest amphibian, weighing upwards of 140 pounds and growing to a length of more than 5.9 feet

Giant Salamander Goo Is Great at Gluing Gashes

Although slightly less durable than other surgical adhesives, a compound derived from the amphibian's skin secretions performs better overall

Instead of the tennis ball, imagine this Boykin spaniel holding an ornate box turtle in its mouth, ready to deliver it to conservation researchers.

Very Good Dogs Helped Track Threatened Turtles in Iowa

The dogs are trained to find ornate box turtles and bring them to researchers—part of an effort to save the struggling species

Nanoscale Structures Give Dragonfish Their Terrible, Invisible Teeth

Crystals in the enamel and an unusual interior structure render the giant teeth invisible, making the fish one of the deep seas's most fearsome hunters

The almost 3-year-old female offspring (left) and her 12-year-old mother (right)

The National Zoo’s Female Asian Water Dragon Successfully Reproduced Without a Male

This is the first time facultative parthenogenesis has been recorded in both the species and the reptilian Agamidae family

NOAA Is Investigating 70 Gray Whale Deaths Along the West Coast

The whales seem to have died from starvation and washed up on shore from California to Alaska

Unlike modern beavers, which use their sharp-edged teeth to chop up trees and build dams, mega-sized ones were unable to alter their environment to fit their needs

Why Did These Human-Sized Beavers Go Extinct During the Last Ice Age?

A new study suggests the giant beavers disappeared after their wetland habitats dried up, depriving the species of its aquatic plant-based diet

The prehistoric school seems to adhere to the laws of attraction and repulsion, with members maintaining enough distance between neighbors without straying too far from the group

Did This Fossil Freeze a Swimming School of Fish in Time?

The 50-million-year-old slab of limestone suggests that fish have been swimming in unison for far longer than previously realized

Experts believe as few as 20 unrelated Sumatran rhinos could hold enough genetic diversity to save their species from extinction

Malaysia’s Last Male Sumatran Rhinoceros Has Died

There are fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos living in the wild

Twice as Many Fishing Vessels Are Chasing Fewer Fish on the World's Oceans

Since 1950, the number of boats has gone from 1.7 million to 3.7 million, even though fish stocks have crumbled

An elephant at Moremi Game Reserve in Maun, Botswana.

Five Things to Know About Botswana’s Decision to Lift Ban on Hunting Elephants

The move has been criticized by conservationists but lauded by locals who say wild elephants are ruining their livelihoods

Australia Has Several New Dragon Lizard Species—and One May Already Be Extinct

A new study shows the endangered grassland earless dragon is actually four separate reptile species—and one hasn't been seen since 1969

A volcano can provide a great deal of geothermal energy

Could Yellowstone's Volcanoes Provide Geothermal Power and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

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