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Science / Wildlife

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

Mistletoes evolved the ability to grow not on the roots of trees, but instead on their branches.

Mistletoe: The Evolution of a Christmas Tradition

Why does this parasitic plant remind us of romance?

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Evolution, A Book That Turns Science Into Art

See examples of these beautiful photographs of animal skeletons in our image gallery

Aspen trees in Colorado

What Was Killing the Aspens?

Scientists determine it was lack of water, not food, that was responsible for sudden aspen decline

Nephila clavipes, a tropical spider, is big enough that it can keep all its brains in its body rather than in its legs

Some Spiders Have Brains in Their Legs

Just one more reason it’s not nice to pull the appendages off of creepy crawlies

A page from my own calendar, with a photo of giraffes taken at Tarongo Zoo in Sydney, Australia

Should You Buy a Wildlife Calendar?

Not all photographers are ethical about where they shoot their photos

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

A northern cardinal

The City Bird and the Country Bird

As in Aesop’s fable, there are advantages and disadvantages for birds living in the city

The skeleton of Oreopithecus bambolii

Human Evolution’s Cookie Monster, Oreopithecus

For the past 60 years, scientists have argued over the enigmatic, human-like fossils of the nine-million-year-old Italian ape

Hawkmoths prefer columbines with long, slender spurs.

The Columbines and Their Pollinators: An Evolutionary Tale

New research provides insight into an evolutionary concept introduced by Charles Darwin

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

Big Southern elephant seal bulls (Mirounga leonina) fighting for females on beach during breeding season in spring.

Wild Things: Piranhas, Nazca Boobies, Glowing Millipedes

Elephant Seals, Neanderthal evolution and more news from the world of science

Whalers pursued sperm whales for the rich oil in their oversized heads. Now biologists are on the tail of these deep-diving, long-lived, sociable and mysterious sea creatures.

The Sperm Whale’s Deadly Call

Scientists have discovered that the massive mammal uses elaborate buzzes, clicks and squeaks that spell doom for the animal’s prey

Sea otters have teeth that resemble those of Paranthropus

Strange Animal Models of Human Evolution

What do sea otters, wolves and capuchin monkeys reveal about our hominid ancestors?

A pigeon's turn is very different from that of an airplane

How A Pigeon Is Like A Helicopter

The bird changes direction with its whole body

The outline of a mastodon skeleton, found at a pre-Clovis site in Washington, indicating where a spear hit the animal.

The First Americans

Yellow saddle goatfish

The Fish That Hunt Like Lions

Yellow saddle goatfish collaborate when one finds prey to chase

A marine sea slug

Ocean Creatures In A Warmer World

A new study finds that some marine organisms may have to move fast if they want to survive climate change

No one knows exactly where Vaux's (pronounced "vauks") swifts spend the winter, or the details of their migration route. But we do know the birds need chimneys.

The Disappearing Habitats of the Vaux’s Swifts

Chimneys may be obsolete in modern buildings, but they’re crucial habitat for the bird species on the West Coast

Nursery web spiders

Lying For Sex, Spider Style

Male nursery web spiders aren’t necessarily punished for giving false gifts

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