Animals

Out of five vaquita found dead this past spring, three were killed in illegal gill nets.

There Are Possibly Only 30 of These Rare Porpoises Left on the Planet

The fascinating vaquita is heading for oblivion, the victim of a ravenous black market for a dubious remedy

Lugworm "casts" on a beach.

Scientists Need Your Help Peeping on the Lugworm’s Weird Mating Habits

UK scientists are recruiting volunteers to look for the critters’ “sperm pools”

In the 20th century, humans exterminated the gray wolf population of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, the largest island on the west coast of North America. The animals repopulated the island by the end of the century, and now live side by side with people.

No One’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf—And That’s a Problem

On Vancouver Island, habituation to humans has made wolves aggressive, fearless and more prone to clashes with people

A Homotherium jawbone found in the North Sea.

Saber-toothed Cats May Have Co-Existed With Modern Humans

They also share an ancestor will all living cats

A Paradise for Grizzly Bears Gets an Up-Close Look

This unique North American sanctuary lets a few lucky observers see the besieged species in its wildest state

7,500 frogs captured by smugglers were rescued from their trips to plates

Thousands of Turkish Frogs Rescued From Smugglers

A delicacy often exported to European countries, frogs are a tightly regulated commodity in the country

When they know humans are looking at them, dogs turn out to make a lot of facial expressions

Fido's Making That Puppy Face on Purpose—He's Trying to Tell You Something

A new study suggests dogs use their facial expressions to communicate

A juvenile Western chimpanzee in the Bossou Forest of Mont Nimba, Guinea.

Western Chimpanzees Have Declined By 80 Percent Over The Past 25 Years

The largest population of these animals—the only critically endangered chimp subspecies—sits in a region riddled with bauxite mines

Why Wolves Work Together While Wild Dogs Do Not

Contrary to popular belief, domestication has made dogs less likely to cooperate to get food than wolves

Diploscapter pachys hasn't had sex for 18 million years, and is doing just fine

This Worm Hasn't Had Sex in 18 Million Years

By fusing its chromosomes, the creature could essentially clone itself while still maintaining genetic variation

What can humans learn from this master of disguise?

Like Octopus Skin, This New Material Goes From 2D to 3D in Seconds

Octopi are masters of disguise, able to change both the color and texture of their skin. Engineers have developed a material that can do similar tricks

Anthrax Outbreak May Have Caused Mass Die-off of Hippos in Namibia

More than 100 hippos have been found dead over the past week

A harmless toilet plunger really takes the snap out of a snapping turtle.

The Musk Turtle Beer Koozie and Other Household Items We Use for Science

When the going gets tough, creative researchers turn to plastic lizard protectors, monkey loofahs and deer vagina trackers

Older, soot-covered horned larks on the left and cleaner specimens on the right

Sooty Bird Feathers Reveal a Century of Coal Emissions History

A story of pollution hides in the grime of museums' birds specimens

Stunning Video Captures Humpback Whales Catching Fish With Nets of Bubbles

It's a complicated but ingenious way to catch a meal

Today's Galapagos tortoises mostly feature dome-shaped shells, like the one shown here. But researchers have found some that have the saddleback-shaped shells and longer necks that once characterized extinct Floreana and Pinta tortoises.

The Island Where Scientists Bring Extinct Reptiles Back to Life (Nope, Not That One)

Reviving a long-dead Galapagos tortoise will take Jurassic Park-esque tactics—but have humans already intervened too much?

The Unlikely Animal That Built Australia's Ghan Railway

In the 1860s, the Australian Outback was the scene of major railroad expansion. At the heart of it was an unusual animal helping haul people and cargo

Mad cow disease, like other prion diseases, is still not fully understood.

More Than 30 Years Since Their Discovery, Prions Still Fascinate, Terrify and Mystify Us

Figuring out what they were was just the beginning of a field of research into prions and prion diseases that's still growing

Mike deRoos and Michi Main rebuild skeletons of marine mammals for their company Cetacea. Here, deRoos adjusts a blue whale chevron bone placement.

How to Give Dead Animals a Second Life: The Art of Skeleton Articulation

Mike deRoos and Michi Main build beautiful models from the remains of Pacific sea creatures

The brown rat is among the few hundred animal genomes that have been sequenced. Only 8.7 billion more to go...

How Scientists Decide Which Animal Genomes to Sequence

There are an estimated 8.7 million species on Earth–it's unlikely scientists will ever sequence them all

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