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The Florida water snake, or Nerodia fasciata pictiventris, (pictured) is one of three southern water snake subspecies and indigenous to the Sunshine State.

A ‘Quivering Mass’ of Mating Snakes Took Over a Florida Lake on Valentine’s Day

Officials have cordoned off an area of Lake Hollingsworth where Florida water snakes are doing their business

The fossil is more than six-and-half feet long and, once it had been wrapped in a protective “jacket” and affixed to two pieces of wood, weighed nearly 1,000 pounds.

A Pair of Horses Helped Excavate a Hulking Brachiosaurus Fossil in Utah

Brachiosaurus remains rarely surface in the fossil record

Olms, also called "baby dragons" and "human fish," are blind, foot-long salamanders native to European caves.

New Research

A Cave-Dwelling Salamander Didn’t Move for Seven Years

The blind, eel-like amphibians called olms live deep in European caves and can go years without food

The Chiba cliff section along the Yoro River in the city of Ichihara shows traces of a reversal in the Earth's magnetic field.

The ‘Chibanian Age’ Is the First Geologic Period Named After a Site in Japan

The period is named for Japan’s Chiba prefecture, where a cliff shows evidence of the most recent reversal of Earth’s magnetic field

Tempestries representing daily high temperatures in Utqiagvik, Alaska, in 1925, 2010, and 2016 (left) and Death Valley, California, in 1950 and 2016 (right)

Art Meets Science

How Knitting Enthusiasts Are Using Their Craft to Visualize Climate Change

In these crafters’ scarves and blankets, rows of color correspond with daily temperature

Most cat allergies are caused by a protein called Fel d 1 that's found in cat saliva and skin glands, and often gets wicked into fur.

What Does a Study of Slow Lorises Actually Say About Cat Allergies?

An unusual theory ultimately warrants skepticism under further research is conducted

An artist's concept of the solar system

Where Will NASA Explore Next? Here Are the Four Shortlisted Missions

Targets include Venus, Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton

Archaeologists unearthed the remains of at least 48 individuals, including 27 children.

Mass Grave Shows the Black Death’s ‘Catastrophic’ Impact in Rural England

At least 48 individuals were buried in a single grave in Lincolnshire, suggesting the community struggled to deal with an onslaught of plague victims

40 million people rely on the Colorado River for water, but its flow is falling by more than 9 percent with every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit rise in temperature.

New Research

The Colorado River Is Shrinking as Temperatures Rise

River flow could drop by 19 to 31 percent if carbon emissions continues at their current pace

A cat-eyed snake eats a toad in Panama. Many snakes depend on amphibians and their eggs for nutrition.

Tropical Snakes Suffer as a Fungus Kills the Frogs They Prey On

Surveys of reptiles in central Panama show the ripple effects of an ecological crisis

Wildfires destroyed around two-thirds of the homes in Nerrigundah, New South Wales.

Trending Today

All of the Fires in Australia’s Most Populous State Are ‘Now Contained,’ Authorities Say

Torrential downpours helped quash powerful blazes that had gripped New South Wales

The forces driving the cows' personality fluctuations are likely the same bodily changes that make human teenagers a handful for their parents.

Cows Get Moooody During Puberty, Too

A new study has found that bovine personalities are less predictable when cows reach sexual maturity

The asteroid Pallas, imaged by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope

The Most Cratered Object in the Asteroid Belt Looks Like a Golf Ball

Pallas’s odd orbit sends it crashing through the asteroid belt, colliding with other objects along the way

This is a graphic reconstruction of a male Stupendemys geographicus swimming in freshwater.

Gigantic Turtles Fought Epic Battles 10 Million Years Ago—and Have the Scars to Prove It

Their shells were 10 feet wide and equipped with foot-long horns on both shoulders

At Pablo Escobar's former hacienda, tourists are warned about the dangerous presence of an expanding hippo population.

Pablo Escobar’s Pooping Hippos Are Polluting Colombia’s Lakes

A new study suggests the hulking creatures are changing local water bodies with their bathroom habits

The Scream (1893) is Edvard Munch's most renowned work.

Art Meets Science

Why Are the Vibrant Colors of ‘The Scream’ Fading?

New analysis explores why unstable synthetic pigments in the painting are changing color from yellow to white

Inspector Clouseau, the world's only known pink manta ray

Rare Pink Manta Ray Spotted Near Australia’s Lady Elliot Island

Researchers suspect a genetic mutation may have gifted the giant fish, named Inspector Clouseau, his rosy hue

Station Squabble by Sam Rowley

See Squabbling Subway Mice and Other Top Wildlife Photos

The Natural History Museum in London has announced the top five honorees in its LUMIX People’s Choice Award competition

The trees 'mysteriously' showed up at the end of the museum's driveway on Tuesday night.

Two Stolen Bonsai Trees ‘Mysteriously’ Returned to Washington State Museum

The trees, which have been cultivated for 70-odd years, are in good condition and back on display

Numbers of these charismatic, blubbery birds have decreased by about half across Antarctica's northwest.

Preliminary Census Documents Antarctica’s Chinstrap Penguins in Sharp Decline

Climate change is the likeliest culprit, researchers say

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