Wildlife

Age of Humans

These Microbe-Coated Seeds Could Help Us Thrive in a Dark, Dry Future

A Massachusetts-based startup is prepping for your basic apocalyptic scenario

Why Honey Bees Are Crucial Employees at this Airport

A colony of 300,000 honey bees lives just south of Frankfurt Airport. By testing the quality of their honey, scientists can determine pollution levels

Move over, tortoises: These sharks take the prize for oldest living vertebrate.

New Research

These Ridiculously Long-Lived Sharks Are Older Than the United States, and Still Living It Up

The lifespans of these marine methuselahs may double those of oldest living tortoises, a creative dating method finds

The Real Way Komodo Dragons Kill Prey

Komodo dragons aren't physically built to chase after their prey

Why Is This Lizard Doing Push-Ups?

Draco lizards have an interesting technique of performing upper body workouts to get the attention of their potential mates

Temperature-sensitive pikas store grass for winter munching.

Future of Conservation

How Climate Change Will Transform the National Parks’ Iconic Animals and Plants

Dramatic changes may force park managers to choose which species will live, and which will die

Sharks are a broad and diverse group of species, but in the public imagination we tend to treat them all the same.

Humans Have Promoted the Reef Shark to Apex Predator

How these diverse predators ended up getting all the credit

Leopard territory in Southeast Asia has been reduced by 94 percent.

New Research

The Indochinese Leopard Is Down to Just a Few Lives

These threatened cats now occupy just 8 percent of their historic range in Cambodia, new population estimate finds

What Is a Rattlesnake's Rattle Actually Made Of?

Each time rattlesnakes shed their skin, a scale remains behind which, in time, becomes the infamous rattle

An eastern wolf in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park.

Rare Wolf or Common Coyote? It Shouldn't Matter, But It Does

The concept of species is flawed, but it still has a huge bearing on conservation policy

A silverfish

New Research

Richer Homes Are Also Richer in Biodiversity

Scientists find that wealthier neighborhoods sport a greater diversity of bugs

Engraving of a woolly mammoth.

New Research

Solving a Mystery of Mammoth Proportions

Dwindling freshwater sealed the demise of the St. Paul woolly mammoths, and could still pose a threat today

Named for photographer Barry Brown, meet the newly discovered scorpionfish Scorpaenodes barrybrowni.

On a Deep Dive in a Custom-Built Submarine, a New Species of Scorpionfish Is Discovered

A Smithsonian scientist dives deep to a coral reef and finds much to discover

Corvette Stingray

These Sleek, Sexy Cars Were All Inspired By Fish

You’ve heard about the Stingray, but what about the Bionic Boxfish?

How to Regulate the Incredible Promise and Profound Power of Gene Drive Technology

An evolutionary ecologist argues that cutting-edge genetic research that could lead to species extinction should be handled with care

Mark Barton and principal investigator Kevin Boswell of Florida International University conduct species sampling of the nearshore waters.

Photo Contest Featured Photographer

From Playboy to Polar Bears: A Fashion Photographer’s Journey to Document Climate Science in Northernmost Alaska

Florencia Mazza Ramsay traveled to Barrow, the northernmost town in the United States, to document life and research on the front lines of climate change

Watch: Hammerhead vs. Stingray

A hammerhead shark locates a stingray hiding beneath the ocean floor. Unnerved, the stingray makes a dash for freedom—but is it too late?

Crocodiles sun themselves at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Buena Vista, Florida in 2012.

Forced Closer to Humans, Crocodiles Face Their Greatest Existential Threat

These armored reptiles have long been considered indestructible, but new threats are shifting the equation

Yao honey-hunter Orlando Yassene holds a wild greater honeyguide male in the Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique.

New Research

Forget Bees: This Bird Has the Sweetest Deal With Honey-Seeking Humans

The effectiveness of the honeyguide call sheds light on why this golden relationship has stuck around so long

Tiny nurse ants tending to white ant larvae are dwarfed by the queen ant in the upper right. All the ants feed upon protein-rich food produced by a white-grey fungus that they cultivate underground.

Were Ants the World's First Farmers?

A new study shows that a group of ants have been conducting a subsistence type of farming since shortly after the dinosaurs died out

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