Baby Animals

The National Zoo's female panda Mei Xiang (above in 2019) is exhibiting signs of a possible pregnancy. These same behaviors could also mean she is experiencing a pseudopregnancy.

14 Fun Facts About Giant Pandas

Mother Mei Xiang’s annual ambiguous maternal behaviors always deliver heightened anticipation at the National Zoo

Najin (left) and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos, on the day before their eggs were harvested.

Eggs Successfully Collected from the Last Two Northern White Rhinos

Advances in fertility science will hopefully allow researchers to implant embryos of the species into surrogate southern white rhinos

Potential explanations for the disorder include infectious disease, rat poison, toxic algae and nutritional deficiencies.

Florida Authorities Investigate a Disorder Affecting Panthers' Ability to Walk

The crippling condition appears to hamper the big cats’ back leg coordination

A Beloved Baby Dugong Has Died After Ingesting Plastic

The orphaned marine mammal became an internet sensation after images of her nuzzling human caretakers went viral

Ping incubates the egg as Skipper keeps guard.

Two Male Penguins in Berlin Join Long Line of Same-Sex Pairs to Adopt an Egg

Skipper and Ping have happily nurtured everything from rocks to fish before zookeepers let them incubate an egg

Warmer temperatures yield more female hatchlings, while colder temperatures yield more males

Turtle Embryos May Be Able to Influence Their Sex by Moving Around Inside the Egg

When embryos found the so-called 'Goldilocks' temperature zone, sex selection was randomized, producing a nearly even split between males and females

It may seem like an ugly duckling story, but it's so cute!

Empty-Nester Loons Adopt a Mallard Chick in Northern Wisconsin

For two months the duckling has learned to eat fish, dive and just hang out on on mom and dad's backs

Little, Transparent Fish Show Sleep Is at Least 450 Million Years Old

Imaging of sleeping zebrafish reveal their pattern of Zzz's is similar to that of mammals and other animals, meaning snoozing has been around a long time

Lead author Emily Fobert says, “The presence of light is clearly interfering with an environmental cue that initiates hatching in clownfish"

Thanks to Light Pollution, We're Losing Nemo

In trials, light-exposed eggs hatched normally as soon as scientists removed an overhead LED designed to simulate artificial light conditions

Mariam the dugong photographed as she is cared for by park officials and veterinarians from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre on Libong island.

Friendly Baby Dugong Becomes Conservation Symbol in Thailand

‘Mariam,’ who was found without her mother, has gone viral after images of her nuzzling the experts who care for her started to circulate

The little fox that could

A Young Arctic Fox Traveled From Norway to Canada in 76 Days

The animal trekked an average of 28 miles per day, covering a distance of 2,175 miles during her journey from Spitsbergen to Ellesmere Island

The little shrimp turn green to blend in with the seaweed meadows they call home.

Newborn Shrimp Often Undergo Sex Reversal, but Ocean Acidification Could Disturb That Natural Process

Chemicals in microalgae are crucial for these bright green shrimp's sexual development, but ocean acidification could change that

Giving lovebugs a whole new meaning.

A Fungus Causes Cicadas to Mate Like Crazy, Even After Their Butts Fall Off

And now scientists think they know why

The narwhal-beluga hybrid skull.

This Bizarre Whale Is a Beluga-Narwhal Hybrid

A new study documents what may be the first-known evidence of breeding between the two species

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 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

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

Tiger sharks appear to prey on migrating songbirds that fall into the ocean during autumnal storms

Baby Sharks Do (Do, Do, Do, Do, Do) Eat Songbirds

A survey of 105 tiger sharks’ stomach contents revealed the remains of 11 land-based bird species

Rare One-Horned Indian Rhino Born at Zoo Miami

This is the first time that a member of the threatened species as been born via artificial insemination and induced ovulation

One of Antarctica’s Largest Emperor Penguin Colonies Has Suffered Three Years of ‘Catastrophic’ Breeding Failures

The penguins have all but abandoned what was once a thriving breeding site at Halley Bay

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