Animals

Mice Have Called Human Houses Home for 15,000 Years

Even before the dawn of agriculture, house mice plagued homes

In times of desperation, female sawtooth sharks have been known to reproduce sans males. For other species, solo reproduction is downright vanilla.

Meet Eight Species That Are Bending the Rules of Reproduction

Spice up your mating life with relationship tips from rock lizards, sharks and water fleas

Researchers discovered the effect in hamsters while trying to find a cure for jet lag in people.

Another Use for Viagra: Curing Hamster Jet Lag

It works—but only for hamsters (and maybe people) traveling east

Outside of the U.S., international whale capture is alive and well.

What Will It Take to End International Killer Whale Capture?

The West may have rejected whale captivity, but the painful relationship between humans and orcas is far from over

Nearly blind, Typhlomys cinereus thrives in the high forests of southeastern China and Vietnam—with a little help from another sense.

This Echolocating Dormouse Could Reveal the Origins of One of Nature’s Coolest Superpowers

Mice, moths and even humans use clicks and echoes to "see" the world around them

Ōkunoshima

The Dark History of Japan's Rabbit Island

The notorious RPB: the rusty patched bumble bee.

The Bee That Breaks Your Heart

Insects are hard-pressed to get protection as endangered species. Can one fuzzy anomaly beat the odds?

From the same DNA, different genders can boast dramatically different characteristics. Dung beetles are helping scientists understand how.

What Dung Beetles Can Teach Us About Sexual Difference

When it comes to sex appeal, it's not all in your genes (it's also in your proteins!)

How did the sabertooth cat wield its excess of tooth?

How Did Sabercats Use Those Outlandish Fangs?

We’ve barely scratched the surface of how this charismatic cat utilized its dental cutlery

Omsin ingested the coins during years in a public turtle pond.

The Sea Turtle That Ate 915 Coins Has Died

Her death comes two weeks after vets tried to save her life with a seven-hour surgery

The heroes of the movie Kong: Skull Island prepare to encounter the 104-foot-tall ape King Kong.

How Big Can a Land Animal Get?

King Kong's biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics

Most regular visitors of Chicago's Field Museum are on a first-name basis with Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that adorns the museum's front hall.

From “T. Rex” to “Pantydraco": How Dinosaurs Get Their Names

The best monikers are “a way to link science and imagination.” Others are just obvious

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

A spider munches on its prey.

Spiders Eat Up to 800 Million Tons of Prey Each Year

For comparison, whales eat up to 500 million tons annually

Researchers Find the First Naturally Fluorescent Frog Species

The polka-dot tree frog emits a blue-green glow under UV light, which is an unusual feature for land-dwelling critters

A wild female Amur leopard crouches on a rocky hillside in the Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve in Russia.

China Approves Massive National Park to Protect Its Last Big Cats

The 5,600-square-mile reserve along the Russian border will safeguard rare Amur leopards and Siberian Tigers

This image, taken from space last summer, shows a long swath of dead mangroves on Australia's northern coast.

What Killed Northern Australia’s Mangroves?

Last year’s massive die-off was the largest ever observed

A humpback supergroup off the coast of South Africa

Scientists Spot Hundreds of Humpback Whales Feeding in Massive Groups

The normally solitary creatures gathered off the southwestern coast of South Africa, puzzling researchers

Ecologists tend to think of mobbing behavior as primarily a way that smaller birds protect their nests and chicks from larger predators. Shown here, a Willie wagtail attacking an Australian raven.

Why Do Male Birds Take on Larger Predators? Maybe Just to Impress the Ladies

Some mobbing behavior may be less about survival, and more about sexual selection

What Lions Look for in the Perfect Prey

For lions hunting buffalo in the Manyeleti, calculation is always at play: An adult male buffalo may be harder to bring down

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