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Science / Wildlife

“Please don’t hurt my baby!” this mother meerkat may say to her murderous female superiors.

Baby-Murdering Meerkat Alpha Females Enslave Subordinates As Wet Nurses

After killing lower-level females’ pups, ruthless dominant meerkats force the childless moms to nanny the alpha’s brood—those that resist are exiled

A new study predicts the year in which major world cities will experience a persistently abnormal climate for the first time.

A New Study Calculates the Year Climate Change Will Hit Your City

Persistently abnormal weather will arrive at different areas at different times, hitting the tropics soonest

5 Smithsonian Scientific Research Projects Shut Down by the Shutdown

The federal government shutdown has affected astronomy, paleontology fieldwork and research into animal behavior at the Smithsonian

New sensing technology reveals that the alpine swift, a small migratory bird, can remain aloft for more than 200 days without touching down.

This Bird Can Stay in Flight for Six Months Straight

A lightweight sensor attached to alpine swifts reveals that the small migratory birds can remain aloft for more than 200 days without touching down

Artist Nickolay Lamm’s depiction of a polar-grizzly hybrid

What Would a Cross Between a Polar Bear and a Grizzly Really Look Like?

As climate changes and Arctic sea ice melts, species shift habitats and may interbreed. Lamm digitally manipulates photographs to imagine these hybrids

Research in mice shows that heavy drinking triggers cellular changes that interfere with bone formation.

Why Binge Drinking Makes You More Likely to Break Your Bones

Research in mice shows that heavy drinking triggers cellular changes that interfere with bone formation

When rains come, this curcurbit beetle is most definitely not looking for love.

Insects Are Less Randy in the Rain

Beetles, moths and aphids are markedly turned off by the hint of impending rain, likely an evolutionary adaptation to prevent them from getting washed away

Are Diesel Exhaust Fumes to Blame for Honeybee Colony Collapse?

Tests show that diesel pollutants reduce bees’ ability to smell flowers, potentially playing a role in the disappearance of the pollinating insects

A calcified flamingo, preserved by the highly basic waters of Tanzania’s Lake Natron and photographed by Nick Brandt

This Alkaline African Lake Turns Animals into Stone

Photographer Nick Brandt captures haunting images of calcified animals, preserved by the extreme waters of Tanzania’s Lake Natron

All living organisms have a two-piece structures inside their cells called ribosomes that make proteins—except naked mole rats’ ribosomes, which was just found to have three pieces.

Why Do Naked Mole Rats Live So Long?

The rodents’ usual cellular structure is good at taking information from DNA and making proteins—these proteins may help extend their lifespans

Osmia chalybea, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia

Bee-utiful! The Stinging Insect Gets a Close-Up

Biologist Sam Droege’s sharply-focused photographs of bees, used for identifying different species, make for fine art

This ancient fossil, just discovered in China, could upend our understanding of how all vertebrates evolved over time.

This 419-Million-Year-Old Fish Has the World’s Oldest Known Face

The ancient fossil, just discovered in China, could upend our understanding of how all vertebrates evolved over time

These Tattoos Honor Lost, Not-So-Loved Species

To overcome how people tend to care only about cute endangered animals, Samantha Dempsey designed and distributed temporary tattoos of ugly extinct species

Spot the impostor: A cuckoo finch chick (left) and a tawny-flanked prinia chick (right) open their beaks for a meal.

Parasitic Cuckoo Finches Use an Egg Overload to Evade Host Defenses

The more eggs a parasitic cuckoo finch lays in its host’s nest, the more likely a discerning foster parent will accept the finch’s young as its own

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How One Moth Species Can Jam Bats’ Sonar Systems

Bertholdia trigona, a moth native to the Arizona desert, emits ultrasonic clicks at a rate of 4,500 times per second to blur bats’ acoustic vision

Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

Diana Beltran Herrera’s Flock of Paper Birds

We are not talking origami here. The Colombian artist has created paper sculptures of more than 100 species, and they are startlingly realistic

The panda cub receiving her first veterinary exam

CUTE PHOTOS: Panda Cub is Thriving, More Than Doubles in Size

Today the Zoo’s veterinarians gave the giant panda cub a full exam and pronounced the cub healthy and thriving

Migaloo, the white whale

Call Me Migaloo: The Story Behind Real-Life White Whales

White whales, such as the recently spotted humpback nicknamed Migaloo, are rare and elusive creatures. How many are there and why are they white?

Blue whale earplugs can reveal some of these aquatic giants’ life events.

Blue Whale Earwax Reveals Pollution Accumulated Over a Lifetime

Earwax collected from a beached whale shows that the creature ingested a host of toxins, such as DDT and mercury, throughout its life

Oceanographer Gareth Lawson, who studies pteropods, was able to identify Kavanagh’s sculptures to species, such as this Limacina helicina.

The Gorgeous Shapes of Sea Butterflies

Cornelia Kavanagh’s sculptures magnify tiny sea butterflies—ocean acidification’s unlikely mascots—hundreds of times

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