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Animals

One possible explanation for the low-frequency noises? Mating black drum fish.

Mysterious Bass Sounds Irking Florida Residents Might Just Be Fish Mating Loudly

The Tampa community raised money to fund an investigation, and now, a local scientist will install underwater microphones to look for the source of the racket

A rosy-faced lovebird

These Parrots Use Their Beaks to Swing Across Branches Like Monkeys

Scientists have documented the unusual movement, dubbed “beakiation,” for the first time

A record number of manatees gather in a warm spring in Florida's Blue Spring State Park on January 21, 2024.

Nearly 1,000 Manatees Converge on Florida State Park to Keep Warm in Record-Breaking Sighting

The park’s naturally heated waters drew unprecedented numbers of the marine mammals, which are especially vulnerable to the cold

Illustration of two Caudipteryx dinosaurs drinking from a river

Scientists Build a Robot Dinosaur to Probe the Mystery of Tiny Wings

Robopteryx—a makeshift dinosaur with training wheels—offers clues to the purpose of prehistoric proto-wings, which are too small to have powered flight

The shark, which researchers suggest is a newborn great white, seen off California's coast in July 2023.

‘Extremely Rare’ Sighting of Newborn Great White Shark Reported Off California Coast

If confirmed, the discovery could shed light on where the sharks give birth and mate, which has remained mysterious to scientists

African gray parrots are highly intelligent birds that can learn to closely mimic human voices.

These Parrots Won’t Stop Swearing. Will They Learn to Behave—or Corrupt the Entire Flock?

A British zoo hopes the good manners of a larger group will rub off on the eight misbehaving birds

Female northern white rhinos Najin and Fatu are the last of their species and reside at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

World’s First IVF Rhino Pregnancy Could Save a Nearly Extinct Subspecies

Only two northern white rhinos remain, but the new reproductive breakthrough may pull them back from the brink of erasure

For species that reproduce sexually, every offspring is a gamble. Each has slightly different genes, giving it the potential to be carrying helpful, adaptive traits.

Can Animals Evolve Fast Enough to Keep Up With Climate Change?

Some may be able to, while others may not

Emperor penguins are the largest penguins in the world, but they're at risk of disappearing because of human-caused climate change.

Scientists Discover Four New Emperor Penguin Colonies From Satellite Images of Antarctica

The findings are a rare bright spot for the birds, which scientists predict will be mostly extinct by 2100

A gilded unicorn atop a silver baton from the regalia of Scotland's Usher of the White Rod

How the Unicorn Became an Enduring Symbol—and Scotland’s National Animal

The Perth Museum’s inaugural exhibition examines the mythical creature’s long history

Researchers have developed a new video hardware and software system to show humans how insects and other animals experience color. Here, they show an orange-barred sulphur butterfly as it might look to a bird. (The insect appears yellow to humans.)

See the World Through the Eyes of Animals With These Stunning New Videos

By making ultraviolet light accessible to our eyes, a novel camera system reveals how insects, birds and other creatures experience color

Paleontologists have recognized three related, parrot-like dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation. Eoneophron infernalis (top left) walks by MOR 752 (bottom left) and Anzu wyliei (right).

Newly Discovered, Parrot-Like Dinosaur Roamed North America Alongside T. Rex

While larger dinosaurs are comparatively well-known, finding smaller species paints a more complete picture of life before the mass extinction

Colored scanning electron micrograph of a water bear, or tardigrade

How Are Tardigrades So ‘Indestructible?’ Scientists Finally Have an Explanation

The tiny animals nicknamed “water bears” can endure extreme conditions by entering a deep hibernation with a switch at the molecular level, a new study finds

To understand Elma's life, researchers cut her tusk lengthwise and took samples to study the elements present in the ivory.

Meet Elma, a Woolly Mammoth Who Roamed Far and Wide More Than 14,000 Years Ago

By analyzing a fossilized tusk, scientists have pieced together the animal’s movements

Before his death, Bobi held two world records: the oldest living dog and the oldest dog ever.

Bobi, Known as the ‘World’s Oldest Dog’ at 31, Has Title Suspended Amid Investigation

The long-lived Portuguese canine broke two world records and captured the hearts of people around the globe, but skepticism surrounds his achievement

Dogs are one of the few animals that use their tails primarily for communication.

Why Do Dogs Wag Their Tails? Scientists Examine the Endearing Behavior

Dogs communicate through tail-wagging, and humans may have selected for the trait during domestication

Researchers studied roughly 50 numbats over the course of a year.

As the Planet Warms, Australia’s Numbats Are at Risk of Overheating

The endangered, squirrel-sized marsupials forage for termites during the day—but they can become too hot after just ten minutes in direct sunlight, according to new research

Poor sad blobfish, voted the world’s ugliest animal.

In Defense of the Blobfish: The ‘World’s Ugliest Animal’ Is Our Fault

The distinguished blobfish has been judged unfairly

A group of grey reef sharks and blacktip reef sharks at La Vallée Blanche in French Polynesia in 2018.

Sharks Are Being Killed at Rising Rates Despite Increased Regulations

Global bans on finning have inadvertently opened up shark meat markets, prompting demand for threatened species, a new study reveals

A female elephant seal rests with her pup on the California coast. Pups in this population spend more days fattening up on mother’s milk than in southern populations on the Kerguelen Islands.

Inside Elephant Seal Pups’ Race to the Depths

While northern pups dive right in, their southern cousins take their time

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