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Animals

Jane Goodall visiting a chimpanzee rescue center in 2018 in Entebbe, Uganda

Jane Goodall, Legendary Primatologist and Anthropologist, Dies at 91

She was considered the world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and was renowned for her global conservation efforts

An 1844 illustration of mink

The Life, Loss and Lore of the Sea Mink

It might be among the first mammals to go extinct in North America after colonization. But can scientists prove it was even a distinct species?

A European stonechat with an orange-and-black-patterned Glanville fritillary butterfly in its beak

New Research

To Hide From Predators, Some Animals Camouflage Into Their Surroundings, While Others Display Bright Colors as a Warning. What Keeps Them Safest?

While many circumstances factor into the calculation, researchers found in a new study that local predators, not appearance alone, had the greatest impact on a color strategy’s success

Scientists scavenge the docks of Manhattan’s Hudson River Park in pursuit of boluses—masses of undigestible materials expelled by gulls.

Gulls’ Spit-Up Gunk Can Help Ecologists Understand Human Pollution

Researchers and student volunteers pick up what seabirds throw up, then examine it for clues about our impact on the environment

An artistic rendering of a Joaquinraptor casali with a croc leg in its mouth.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian’s Leg Still in Its Mouth

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

The first-place winner of the 2025 Nikon Small World in Motion Video Competition captures a self-pollinating flower.

Stunning Microscope Videos Highlight Self-Pollination, Algae and Tumor Cells in the Nikon Small World in Motion Contest

The annual video competition focuses on the tiny wonders of the natural world

A sea lamprey shows off its nightmarish mouth.

This Invasive Vampire Fish Is Helping Researchers Understand the Human Nervous System in Jaw-Dropping Ways

The sea lamprey looks like it’s from another planet, but this ancient creature has a surprising amount in common with humans

In The Night Watch, Rembrandt included a small dog crouching in the shadows.

Cool Finds

The Mystery of the Small Dog in Rembrandt’s Monumental Masterpiece ‘The Night Watch’ Has Officially Been Solved

When a curator spotted a strikingly similar image of a dog by a lesser-known Dutch artist, she wondered if it could have inspired the pup in Rembrandt’s famous 1642 painting

A male blue jay on the left, a female green jay on the right and a hybrid offspring of the two species in the center.

Strange Bird Spotted in a Texas Backyard Is the First Known Hybrid Between a Blue Jay and a Green Jay

The ranges of the two parent bird species have expanded due to climate change and now overlap around San Antonio, researchers say

A historian inspects oysters from a reef on the Nansemond River, in Virginia.

Can Scientists Help Oysters Thrive Again?

Dredging and pollution devastated the once-bountiful reefs. Careful science may help bring them back

The orca known as “Old Thom” swims in front of researchers in the Bay of Fundy.

The Curious Case of ‘Old Thom,’ an Orca Traveling Alone in the North Atlantic

Sightings of the marine mammal captivate the public and baffle scientists

Roosevelt stands between the Sister of Rev. W.F. Bumsted, at that time mother superior of the convent, and the young King Daudi of Uganda, and is surrounded by members of the king's court at St. Mary's Convent, near Kampala, December 22, 1909

In 1909, Theodore Roosevelt Embarked on an Ambitious Expedition to East Africa. Here’s Why His Trip Still Matters Today

The 26th U.S. president is both lauded as a conservationist and condemned as a big-game hunter. A new book recounts the historic journey on which he helped form a significant collection of animals at the National Museum of Natural History

A jaguar, not the one documented in the new study, swims in the Pantanal in Brazil.

A Jaguar in Brazil Makes the Longest Recorded Swim by the Species, Traversing at Least 0.79 Miles Through Water

The new record could help conservationists strategize ways to consider feline movements during construction of hydroelectric dams

Chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park love eating figs, which scientists found had the highest level of alcohol at the site.

Chimps Consume the Equivalent of 2.5 Alcoholic Drinks per Day by Eating Fermented Fruit, Study Finds

Scientists report that chimpanzees consume about 14 grams of alcohol daily and suggest the result might help explain humans’ interest in booze

According to new research, the Chicago River has become significantly cleaner and healthier in recent decades. 

Fish Are Spawning in the Chicago River, Another Sign the Once-Contaminated Waterway Is Rebounding

A new study suggests at least 24 species of fish are reproducing in the urban river, adding to the evidence that it is getting cleaner and healthier

Inmate Willie H. feeds juvenile robins that are being rehabilitated in prison.

In Prisons Across Ohio, These Inmates Are Finding Meaning by Saving Orphaned and Injured Animals

The Ohio Wildlife Center’s hospital sends critters to five facilities for care before eventual release

Bull elk are fighting and bugling during their annual mating season in Rocky Mountain National Park and neighboring Estes Park in Colorado.

Amorous Elk Are Looking for Love Across North America in an Annual Spectacle Called the Rut

Fall is mating season for the large, antler-adorned ungulates—and you can catch a glimpse of them at several national parks in the United States and Canada

Ned (right) likely won't be able to reproduce unless another left-coiling snail is found.

A Rare, Left-Coiling Snail Needs Help Finding a Mate. New Zealanders Are Looking for Its 1-in-40,000 Match

Known as Ned, the creature needs a fellow left-coiling garden snail to reproduce—but the species almost always has shells that coil on their right side

An adult spotted lanternfly on a leaf in Pittsburgh

Swarm of Invasive Spotted Lanternflies Shows Up on Weather Radar Around Washington, D.C., Meteorologists Say

Using a variety of radar characteristics, scientists suggest the irregular detection was caused by bugs, instead of normal weather patterns

The researchers studied the genomes of thousands of ant specimens stored in museum collections.

Fiji’s Ants Are Struggling. Scientists Say They’re Part of the Broader ‘Insect Apocalypse’

New research finds that 79 percent of Fiji’s endemic ant species—those that are native to and only found on the archipelago—are in decline

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