Animals

Variegated squirrels, like the one pictured above in Costa Rica, may carry a virus that causes encephalitis in humans.

A Squirrel Virus May Have Killed Three Squirrel Breeders in Germany

A mysterious set of deaths seem to be linked to the rodents

A bontebok

Ever Heard of the Bontebok? It’s an African Animal Humans Nearly Destroyed, Then Saved

Part of this conservation success story relies on the bontebok’s inability to jump

Does she look like she would enjoy being jabbed with a needle? Conservationists have used assassin bugs to test the blood female Iberian lynx, like the mother picture above with her cubs, for pregnancy.

How Do You Give an Iberian Lynx a Pregnancy Test? Use an Assassin Bug

Researchers used the insects to keep tabs on population growth in the threatened species

Researchers have long debated whether shark repellants actually work.

Do Shark Repellents Really Work?

Mostly not, not even the one made by Julia Child

Unlike the tails of almost all other animals, seahorse tails are more like square prisms than cylinders.

Why Seahorses Have Square Tails

Engineers show that the animals' prism-like tails are mechanically superior to cylindrical ones

For the first time, Florian Engert and his team mapped every firing neuron in a living animal.

How a Transparent Fish May Help Decode the Brain

An outspoken Harvard neuroscientist is tackling the wondrous challenge of understanding the workings of the brain

What Did Insects Evolve From and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

14 Fun Facts About Marine Bristle Worms

In honor of the first ever International Polychaete Day, learn about the bristly worms that are everywhere in the ocean

Someone is Still Decapitating Animals in Sacramento

More headless animals (and surveillance video) have been found

Skin bacteria may have lured in this hungry Aedes aegypti mosquito.

To Stop Mosquito Bites, Silence Your Skin's Bacteria

Texas scientists tricked mosquitoes into skipping a blood meal by modifying the way bacteria talk to each other

Move Over, Clooney: This Japanese Gorilla is the Internet’s Newest Heartthrob

Shabani’s sexy looks are responsible for a spike in zoo attendance

The aptly named elegant tern.

Warming and Overfishing Sent Seabirds Flocking to California

Mexico's elegant terns have begun nesting farther north in years when their traditional food is scarce

Horses race in the 2015 Belmont Stakes. Researchers have found that horse race speed has increased since 1850.

Racehorse Speed Hasn’t Peaked Yet

But how will horses fare in the race to get faster?

A reconstruction of "grandfather turtle."

This Ancient Creature Shows How the Turtle Got Its Shell

The 240-million-year-old "grandfather turtle" may be part of the evolutionary bridge between lizards and shelled reptiles

As the price of their wool rises, vicuñas, like the one picture here near the ALMA telescope in Chile, faces threats from poaching gangs.

Poachers Are Killing Andean Camels for Their Wool

To meet a growing demand for vicuña wool in Europe and Asia, gangs are massacring herds of the animals in South America

Poop or a caterpillar? The giant swallowtail caterpillar is one of a few species that elude birds by pretending to be their poop.

Here Are The Animals That Are the Best at Pretending to Be Poop

Moth caterpillars change their posture to look like bird dung, and they’re not alone

A chimpanzee family in Uganda in 2010.

What Does it Really Mean to Be 99 Percent Chimp?

This video breaks down our statistical similarity to chimpanzees

Allis Markham puts the finishing touches to her entries at the World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships in Springfield, Missouri, on May 6.

Why Taxidermy Is Being Revived for the 21st Century

A new generation of young practitioners is leading a resurgence in this centuries-old craft

Maker’s Week at the Zoo is Business as Usual

When the right product doesn't exist for a fish ultrasound or other procedure, scientists build it themselves

A customs officer in Thailand examines specimens from a three ton ivory seizure, estimated to be worth $6 million.

DNA and Databases Help Untangle the Web of the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Two new data-driven approaches help identify key hotspots for poaching and trafficking

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