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Science / Wildlife

Birds don’t fly across wide Amazonian rivers like the Rio Negro.

How Amazon Rivers Play a Role in the Evolution of Birds

Rivers are natural boundaries for evolving populations. But scientists don’t agree whether they create new species or just help maintain them.

One of the meg's fearsome teeth, shown here in this extreme close-up.

The Real Science Behind the Megalodon

As The Meg hits theaters, dive into what we really know about this chompy predator

When Bsal first arrived in the Netherlands, the pathogen wiped out 96 percent of the resident population of fire salamanders in a few years.

How American Scientists Are Planning to Thwart a Salamander Apocalypse

Yet another fungus threatens to decimate amphibians in North America, but this time, scientists stand ready

The Santa Monica State Beach is an allegory of North American consumerism. Every morning, cleaners collect chip bags, takeout containers, plastic straws, and more, hiding tonnes of trash from beachgoers who may never know the magnitude of the problem.

Are We Grooming Beaches to Death?

Urban beaches worldwide have less garbage than remote beaches, but less life too. The City of Santa Monica hopes to change the image of a clean beach.

Fathers can communicate their priorities through a growing fetus, which can express a set of paternal instructions that increase future care from mothers.

How Dad’s Genes Can Prepare Mom for Parenthood

Even fathers who don’t provide childcare to their offspring have a way of securing their kids’ futures—by ramping up mom’s hormones

Could spider plants alert you of carbon monoxide, or even the flu, lurking in your home?

Could Houseplants Keep Tabs on the Health of Your Home?

Researchers at the University of Tennessee look at the possibility of using plants as biosensors to detect dangers like mold or radon

Even at three-and-a-half months, the inquisitive Moke has already begun to explore his surroundings and approach the other members of his troop.

At Nearly Four Months Old, the Zoo’s Youngest Gorilla Has Begun to Show His Rambunctious Roots

Moke, the National Zoo’s first infant gorilla in nine years, enlivens the primate house with chatter and play.

Closeup of a stomatopod crustacean

Why Mantis Shrimps, Not Sharks, Might Be the Most Amazing Predators in the Sea

The crustaceans have superpowers other animals can only dream of

A starfish and barnacles along the side of a formerly sunken wall

A Photographer Documents the Effects of Climate Change on Maine’s Intertidal Zones

A marine biology student at Northeastern University captures the vulnerable organisms that have to survive high and low tide

A fisher from a small-scale fishery in Honduras hooks a yellowtail snapper—a species of fish that may vary its shape depending on where it's sourced.

To Pinpoint the Origin of a Fish, Check Out Its Physique

A new cost-effective tool may help small-scale fisheries simply and accurately determine the origins of a day’s catch.

Anolis scriptus, the Turks and Caicos anole, on Pine Cay

Lizards With Bigger Toes and Smaller Hind Legs Survive Hurricanes

A serendipitous study comparing the physical traits of lizards before and after 2017’s hurricane season shows natural selection in action

Would your pup come to your rescue?

Why the Most Helpful Dogs Keep Calm and Carry On

Dogs are willing to overcome obstacles to help people in distress—as long as they keep their cool

The science behind the uptick in cheetah births includes a new fecal hormone method to determine pregnancy in the animals.

Zoo Announces Another Seven Adorable Cheetah Cubs Are Born

With wild populations threatened, emerging and new techniques in the breeding science is growing ever more critical

New Research Suggests Dr. Seuss Modeled the Lorax on This Real-Life Monkey

Facial recognition software refreshes the classic book’s message on conservation

Forest near Sarayaku, Ecuador

This Simulation Maps the Rise and Fall of Species Over 800,000 Years

Biogeographers have built a virtual world to trace the emergence and extinction of species during the last eight glacial cycles

Aggressive or sexual behavior in crows interacting with dead bodies might happen more often when sex hormones run rampant.

It’s Not Without Caws That Crows Desecrate Their Dead

What dead crows can teach us about the connections between sex and aggression

The Unexpected Afterlife of Ill-Gotten Wildlife Goods

Contraband pelts and scales can serve as educational tools, add to research collections and even offer clues back to smugglers

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