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Animals

An artist’s illustration of Quetzalcoatlus flying

How Pterosaurs Might Inform the Next Generation of Flight

After paleontologists cracked the secrets of the ancient flying reptiles, researchers are thinking about how to harness their methods

An Azores bullfinch feeds on the buds of a native tree on São Miguel Island in the Azores.

Planet Positive

One of Europe’s Most Endangered Birds Is Bouncing Back

Twenty years of habitat restoration has helped the once critically endangered Azores bullfinch

A wild boar in Bavaria, Germany. Levels of radioactive contamination in the animals have not declined significantly since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

Why Germany’s Wild Boars Are Radioactive

Fallout from nuclear tests conducted in the mid-20th century may contribute to the high levels of radiation seen in the animals today, a new study finds

Researchers have found bouts of REM-like activity in cuttlefish.

Do Other Animals Dream?

Researchers are finding signs of multiple phases of sleep all over the animal kingdom, including some that look very much like REM

Savannah elephants walk through tall grass in Tsavo, a region in south-eastern Kenya. Trouble often begins when elephants stray from a protected area into human-dominated landscapes.

Inside the Effort to Prevent Conflict Between Humans and Elephants in Africa

Conservationists are inserting beehives as deterrents around farms and building craft breweries that reward farmers for pachyderm-friendly practices

Scientists came across the golden orb while exploring the seafloor of the Gulf of Alaska with a remotely operated vehicle on August 30.

What Is This Mysterious Golden Orb Scientists Found on the Ocean Floor?

After bringing the four-inch-diameter blob to the surface, researchers still only know that it is “biological in origin”

Moose numbers have plummeted in Minnesota.

What’s Killing Minnesota’s Moose? Studies Reveal Sites of Deadly Brainworm Transmission

Carried by deer and spread by snails and slugs, a lethal parasite is infecting the large ungulates, which have recently declined dramatically

A puffin on Eastern Egg Rock carries fish to feed its young.

Puffins Are Making a Comeback in Maine

After a down year in 2021, the birds have had two good years in a row

A bison runs amid the snow in Yellowstone National Park.

See Ten Breathtaking Images From the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest

The highly commended shots call to mind both the wonders of the animal kingdom and the risks wild creatures face

Peanut eats blueberry yogurt, grapes, bananas and vegetables.

Meet Peanut, the World’s Oldest Living Chicken at 21 Years of Age

Peanut had a rough start to life but ultimately grew up happy and healthy on a 37-acre farm in Chelsea, Michigan

A mule deer crosses a road near Aspen, Colorado.

How Roads Have Transformed the Natural World

A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it

Bears are a fairly common sight near Yellowknife at this time of year, however, they seem to be moving deeper into town during recent wildfires.

Black Bears Move Into Abandoned Canada Town Evacuated Due to Wildfires

Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, has been largely empty for the last two weeks amid Canada’s worst fire season on record

Sixteen-year-old Lindsey Stallworth cleans the whale skull in the lab at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science.

Cool Finds

Teenager Helps Uncover 34-Million-Year-Old Whale Skull in Alabama

Working with one of her teachers, the 16-year-old student found the fossil, which may represent a new species, on her family’s property

A zoo employee weighs a meerkat during the annual weigh-in.

London Zoo Weighs All 14,000 of Its Animals, ‘From the Tallest Giraffe to the Tiniest Tadpole’

The annual measurements help zookeepers track each animal’s health over time

A remotely operated vehicle measured environmental conditions around the octopus nest site, including temperature and oxygen levels.

Why ‘Hot Springs’ Draw the World’s Largest Gathering of Deep-Sea Octopuses

Some 20,000 octopuses congregate near an inactive underwater volcano off California’s coast, using heat from thermal springs to hatch their eggs faster

Cows with the slick gene have sleek, short hair that helps keep them cool.

Farmers Are Breeding Cows to Withstand Heat Waves

A gene that occurs naturally in some cow breeds may be the key to helping cattle thrive as temperatures rise because of climate change

Doctors suspect the patient accidentally ingested the roundworm's eggs while foraging for edible greens near her home.

Doctors Pulled a Wriggling, Three-Inch Worm From a Woman’s Brain

The incident in Australia is the first known occurrence of the roundworm—typically found in snakes—infecting the brain of a mammal

Throughout the spring, biologists captured this behavior among adult members of Mollie's Pack using a trail camera.

Watch Adult Wolves Bring ‘Toys’ to Their Teething Pups at Yellowstone

When they can’t bring food back to the den, the animals retrieve bones, sticks and antlers for their young to chew on—and biologists captured it on video

One of the adult ospreys in the breeding pair

Ospreys Breed in Ireland for the First Time in More Than 200 Years

The birds were driven to local extinction in the 18th century, but the new chicks provide hope for a comeback amid reintroduction efforts

The clouded leopard kitten, born last month at the Oklahoma City Zoo, has now been transferred to the Nashville Zoo to be hand-reared and eventually paired with a mate.

‘Rare’ Clouded Leopard Kitten Born at the Oklahoma City Zoo

Keepers hope the young male will have his own “little cloudies” one day, helping maintain the vulnerable species’ captive population

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