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Stories from Sarah Kuta

Backpack has a quiet presence on the river—and his size suggests his peaceful strategy is effective.

Meet This Year’s Chonky Champion of Fat Bear Week: Backpack, a Laid-Back 20-Year-Old Male Who’s a ‘Stoic Presence on the River’

The brown bear, who now weighs between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds after fattening up on salmon, earned his nickname as a cub. When he was little, he enjoyed riding on his mom’s back as she swam across a river

Parts of New Jersey experienced severe flooding over the weekend during the nor'easter.

A Shark Was Spotted Swimming Through the Flooded Streets of New Jersey During the Nor’easter

The creature has been identified as a smooth dogfish, a harmless species found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. It wasn’t the only animal caught in the chaos brought by the storm system

The tree was discovered in two pieces on the morning of September 28, 2023.

England’s Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Is Showing Signs of Life, Three Years After Vandals Chopped It Down

Numerous leafy shoots are now sprouting around the base of the tree’s stump, which is located near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England

The rare two-headed turtle was found at a proteted nesting site.

Two Heads Are Better Than One: Rare, Double-Headed Turtle Hatchling Discovered on Cape Cod

The tiny diamondback terrapin was brought to a wildlife center on September 17. At the time, the creature weighed about as much as a nickel

Jason Graziadei, editor in chief of the Nantucket Current, snapped this photo after getting a tip from a reader.

In 1884, Gale-Force Winds Ran a Ship Aground Near Cape Cod. Now, the Nor’easter Lashing the East Coast May Have Uncovered Part of It

The wreckage could belong to the “Warren Sawyer,” a three-masted cargo schooner that foundered more than 140 years ago

The wall is made of stone and wood; initial radiocarbon dating places its origin between 200 B.C.E. and 10 B.C.E.

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement That Eventually Became Paris. Archaeologists May Have Just Found It

While conducting excavations at a hospital on the Île de la Cité, in the Seine River, researchers discovered part of a wall that may have once protected Lutetia, the Gallic precursor to France’s capital

The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is one of 1,500 species of bats around the world.

Where Did Bats Originate? Huge Genetic Study May Have Settled the Longstanding Debate and Rewritten the Creatures’ Evolutionary Tree

The flying mammals likely arose 65 million years ago in Europe, before spreading to Africa and then the rest of the world, according to the new research

Together the coins weigh nearly seven pounds.

A Metal Detectorist Exploring a Field in Germany Was Stunned to Discover a Massive Hoard of Roman Coins

Together, the 943 silver denarii span nearly 300 years of Roman history, from 148 B.C.E. to 124 or 125 C.E.

Members of the public are invited to vote for their favorite name for the otter: Nessie, Ruthie or Morgan. The selections are a nod to community changemakers who have made a positive impact on the river and the Bronx more broadly.

An Otter Just Returned to New York City’s Bronx River for the First Time in a Century. Now, You Can Help Name It

A trail camera photographed the animal earlier this summer, offering a hopeful sign that the once-polluted urban waterway is recovering after decades of restoration work

Bubbles singled out individual bigeye trevally fish, then harassed them into puking up their most recent meal.

Meet Bubbles, a Dolphin in Australia Who Chases Fish Until They Barf—Then Eats Their Upchucked Meals

Scientists recorded 11 instances of Bubbles successfully snacking this way. They mark some of the first detailed observations of kleptoparasitism, or food stealing, in cetaceans, the group of marine mammals that includes dolphins, whales and porpoises

The woman was buried facedown, a position suggestive of punishment or discrimination.

This Woman Who Lived in 14th-Century China May Have Had Her Nose Cut Off as Punishment for Theft or Adultery

Researchers found signs of healing on her 700-year-old skull, which suggests that she survived the painful sanction—and may even have gone on to wear a prosthesis

In one observation, a juvenile male appears to teach an infant named Fotti how to crack open a baobab fruit.

Cameras Capture Adult Chimpanzees Passing Tools—and Know-How—to Their Young, Teaching Important Skills to the Next Generation

Researchers recorded footage of wild chimps in Senegal showing youngsters how to use sticks to fish out ants and how to smash baobab fruit against rocks to open it, among other instances of instruction

The researchers discovered complete iron bars as well as fragments.

Workers Extracting Gravel From the Danube River Dredged Up a 2,200-Year-Old ‘Rusty Treasure’ That Could Have Equipped an Army

The cache comprises the remains of at least 500 iron bars, which were likely headed downstream to be forged into finished products

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer, first encountered the new species at the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia.

Meet the Adorable and Tiny Tilcayo, the First Brand-New Cat Species Identified in More Than a Century

Discovered in a cloud forest in Bolivia, the diminutive felines are smaller than a house cat and covered in large, irregularly shaped rosettes

Merriam-Webster routinely adds new words and definitions to its catalog of the English language.

From ‘Sunday Scaries’ and ‘Whack-a-Mole’ to ‘Looksmaxxing’ and ‘Cuffing Season,’ These Are the Newest Words in the Dictionary

Merriam-Webster’s update includes 1,400 words that have demonstrated frequent, widespread and meaningful use

Scientists have traced the deadly sheep pox virus back 3,700 years.

The Ancient DNA of a Deadly Animal Virus Has Been Lurking in Medieval Manuscripts for Centuries, Researchers Find

A new analysis of teeth and parchment suggests that the devastating sheep pox virus has been infecting livestock for 3,700 years

How humpback whales respond to death is one of the least understood aspects of their behavior, according to researchers.

A Humpback Whale Mom Stayed With Her Stillborn Calf, Repeatedly Touching It and Staring Into Its Eyes. Was She Grieving?

Observed last year off the coast of Queensland, Australia, this event marks the first documentation of a stillbirth in the species, providing a rare glimpse at how the highly social animals respond to death

Gertrude Abercrombie gave Alderman Merriam’s Shells to a doctor in exchange for a medical procedure in 1952. 

Bought for $30 at an Estate Sale, This Long-Lost Gertrude Abercrombie Painting Could Now Fetch $250,000

The Chicago-based Surrealist created the piece in 1951, then gave it to a doctor in exchange for medical services

Kakapo are critically endangered, but they're starting to make a comeback.

New Zealand Welcomes a Record 90 Kakapo Chicks, Helping the World’s Chunkiest Parrot Species Rebound From the Brink of Extinction

Annual chick counts aren’t confirmed until the youngest hatchling reaches 150 days old, a benchmark for independence. The population now stands at 325 birds, up from the 51 individuals that remained in 1995

Scientists think a Nanotyrannus or a young Tyrannosaurus rex might have eaten the bird.

A 66-Million-Year-Old Feather Trapped in Dinosaur Poop Might Help Explain Why Some Birds Survived Mass Extinction

Discovered in Montana in 2016, the cherry-size coprolite contains feathers, bones and evidence of the bird’s last meal before the creature was eaten by a theropod

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