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Animals

A juvenile harbor seal lies on a beach in the Netherlands.

Seals Are Seemingly Vanishing Off the Dutch Coast. These Scientists Are Trying to Get to the Bottom of the Mysterious Disappearances

Recent counts of the Wadden Sea’s adult harbor seal population have revealed a surprising trend of decline, prompting a consortium of researchers to investigate whether the animals are dying off, relocating or experiencing something else altogether

The female calf was born on February 2 at 1:15 A.M. Eastern Standard Time.

An Asian Elephant Was Born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for the First Time in Almost 25 Years. Now, You Can Help Pick Her Name

The calf was born to 12-year-old Nhi Linh, a first-time mother, and 44-year-old Spike. The pair bred as part of a program working to conserve the endangered species

For the time being, the bears are adapting to warming temperatures and a changing habitat

Some Polar Bears Have Been Getting Chunkier—Despite Losing Their Main Hunting Grounds to Climate Change

The fuzzy white predators of Svalbard, Norway, have been getting fatter over the past two decades, possibly by changing their diets and hunting strategies, a new study suggests

Megalodons were massive predators that ruled the world's oceans.

Megalodons Went Extinct Millions of Years Ago. The Prehistoric Predator Could Become Maryland’s Official State Shark

Teeth belonging to the fearsome creatures have been discovered throughout the state. Now, they’re up for consideration by the state legislature

Researchers have collected more than 50,000 fossil specimens from a quarry in southern China.

A Fossil Trove in China Provides a Rare Window Into a Mass Extinction Event That Happened More Than 500 Million Years Ago

Paleontologists have identified thousands of animal species that lived soon after the Cambrian explosion ended

The small dinosaur Patagonykus—one of an odd-looking group called alvarezsaurs—puzzled experts with its stout claws and bird-like bones.

Small, Stubby-Armed Dinosaurs Have Confounded Paleontologists. Are Answers Finally Within Reach?

Recent discoveries about an alvarezsaur called Manipulonyx have drawn renewed attention to this group of bird-like, clawed creatures and the mysteries around their anatomy and behavior

Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park from 1995 to 1997.

‘Rising Star’ of a Prominent Yellowstone Wolf Pack Was Illegally Killed, Sparking a Poaching Investigation

Wildlife advocates are mourning the death of a female gray wolf known as 1478F

Common vampire bat

When Vampire Bats Become Close Friends, They Start ‘Talking’ Like Each Other

New research shows that just like humans, vampire bats with deep social relationships use similar sounds as one another to communicate

Camera traps in Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park captured the sounds made by wild jaguars.

Wild Jaguars Sometimes Meow Just Like House Cats, New Recordings Suggest. The Sounds May Help Mothers and Cubs Find One Another

Two female jaguars were recorded making meow-like vocalizations in Brazil—the first documented audio of the sounds in the wild

After capturing the 77-pound male, wildlife officials said they planned to re-collar and release the creature into the wild.

Rare Mountain Lion Standoff in San Francisco Ends Peacefully After a 30-Hour Search

Wildlife officials successfully captured the young male, known as 157M, after he wandered into the northern Pacific Heights neighborhood

A Brazilian keelback (Helicops infrataeniatus) cannibalizes another in 2015.

Cannibalism Among Snakes Is Far More Widespread Than Previously Thought

Scientists undertook the first comprehensive assessment of how often snakes eat their own, uncovering reports of the behavior in more than 200 species

Seven mummified cheetahs and the remains of dozens more were found in caves in northern Saudi Arabia.

Cool Finds

Mummified Cheetahs Discovered in Caves Could Help Saudi Arabia Bring the Wild Cat Back to Its Historical Range

Researchers thought that just one subspecies of cheetah lived in Saudi Arabia long ago. But an unexpected discovery seems to broaden the gene pool

Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish have threatened the Great Barrier Reef since the 1960s.

These Hungry Starfish Are Spiraling Out of Control in Australia. Now Scientists Say They Have a New Plan to Fight Back

Synthetic pheromones may be a promising tool in attracting and culling troublesome crown-of-thorns starfish, which rapidly eat large amounts of coral on the Great Barrier Reef

Tyrannosaurus rex probably wasn't full-grown until around age 40, new research suggests.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Was Probably a Late Bloomer—and May Have Taken Around 40 Years to Grow Up

The behemoth dinosaurs grew more slowly and had longer life spans than previously thought, a new study suggests

An illustration of Procoptodon goliah, a giant kangaroo that weighed up to about 550 pounds and went extinct around 40,000 years ago

Giant Kangaroos That Lived During the Ice Age May Have Hopped—Despite Weighing Up to 550 Pounds

The extinct animals may have bounced from scary situations, such as coming face to face with hungry predators

Shovel-tusked elephants like Amebelodon were discovered nearly a century ago, and paleontologists have learned more about their anatomy and behavior with time. This 1932 illustration was later found to be inaccurate, as Amebelodon actually had a longer and narrower trunk.

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth

The animals’ extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

A gentoo penguin peers up from its colony’s nesting grounds on Booth Island, in the Antarctic Peninsula. The species, an adaptable forager that can switch prey when krill are scarce, has expanded into parts of the Antarctic Peninsula that were once too icy to inhabit.

The Penguins That Thrive—and the Ones Left Behind—as Antarctica Warms

A new decade-long study tracked 37 penguin colonies and found that the birds are breeding earlier. The shift marks one way among many that climate change is transforming life at the bottom of the world

Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced a rare birth of mountain gorilla twins.

Rare Twin Mountain Gorillas Born in the Congo, Giving Hope to Those Working to Conserve the Endangered Animals

While the birth is sparking joy, infant mountain gorillas are vulnerable, and twins can be twice as hard for a mother to take care of

Humpback whales blow curtains of bubbles beneath fish and krill to trick them into thinking they're trapped.

Humpback Whales Are Probably Learning How to Catch Prey With Bubble Nets by Watching One Another

The foraging strategy may help make humpbacks more resilient to food scarcity, emphasizing the importance of preserving their cultural knowledge, a study suggests

The preserve includes roughly five miles of hiking trails, including a mellow route that leads to the beach.

A Stunning Stretch of California’s Rugged Coastline Is Now Open to the Public for the First Time in a Century

Privately owned until 2015, the 547-acre Estero Americano Coast Preserve is welcoming hikers, bird-watchers, wildflower lovers and other outdoor adventurers

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