Mammals

Cats and earthquakes were popular subjects this year.

Top Ten Science Blog Posts of 2011

Cats, zombies, earthquakes, chickens--our readers have an eclectic taste

A young echidna in Coles Bay, Australia

What In The World Is An Echidna?

This spiky monotreme can be found in Australia and New Guinea

Reindeer have a few strategies for keeping cool (courtesy of flickr user much ado about nothing

How Rudolph Keeps A Cool Head

Reindeer have several strategies for releasing heat when they get too hot

A great white shark off the coast of South Africa

The Secrets of a Shark Attack

In an attack against a Cape fur seal, a great white shark's advantage comes down to physics

Bottlenose dolphins are good swimmers

For Dolphins, Pregnancy Comes With a Price

A bigger body means increased drag, slower speeds and greater vulnerability to predators

Luke, the National Zoo's male lion

Secrets of a Lion’s Roar

Not all cats roar, but those that do fascinate us with their mysterious and frightening sounds

A kinkajou in Costa Rica

What In The World Is A Kinkajou?

It's a carnivore, though it mostly eats fruit. It has a prehensile tail, but it's not a primate

Infamously fierce, rhinoceroses, pictured is a black rhino in Kenya, are victims of rumors that have driven the price of their horn to hundreds of dollars an ounce.

Defending the Rhino

As demand for rhino horn soars, police and conservationists in South Africa pit technology against increasingly sophisticated poachers

A little brown bat with symptoms of white-nose syndrome

Bat Killer Confirmed

The Geomyces destructans fungus causes deadly white-nose syndrome in bats

Pandas munch on bamboo for most of the day.

How A Carnivore Survives On Bamboo

New research finds that the giant panda may get some bacterial help to digest its bamboo diet

It only took five tries, but his version of Hamlet is much better.

Chimps Shouldn’t Be Entertainers

A new study provides evidence that seeing chimps in commercials makes us care less about them as a species

Rock hyraxes in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

What in the World is a Rock Hyrax?

It's the elephant's closest living, land-based relative

Toxoplasma gondii requires the cat digestive system for reproduction, so it hitches a ride in a rat

The Parasite That Makes a Rat Love a Cat

Toxoplasma gondii alters activity in a rat's brain

The moose likely got drunk eating apples fermenting on the ground.

The Alcoholics of the Animal World

A drunken moose got stuck in a tree. But they aren't the only ones who like the product of fermentation

A glowing kitty may help in the fight against AIDS

The Glow-In-The-Dark Kitty

A fluorescent green cat could help in the fight against AIDS

A male elephant at Etosha National Park in Namibia

Male Elephants Queue in Dry Times

Researchers believe the hierarchy helps elephants avoid injuries that could result from competing for water

Woolly rhinos may have used their flattened horns to sweep away snow and expose edible vegetation underneath.

Woolly Rhino May Have Been A Tibetan Native

When the Ice Age began, these large mammals spread out to northern Asia and Europe

A wild capybara by a lake in Brazil

What In The World Is A Capybara?

And why is one running loose in California?

One of Amani's five cubs at seven weeks age

Helping Older Cheetahs Become Moms

Researchers may soon be able to transfer embryos from older cheetahs into younger animals and give them a better chance of success

Kanzi the bonobo is quite the musician

Six Talking Apes

“Talking” apes are not just the stuff of science fiction; scientists have taught many apes to use some semblance of language

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