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Animals

Ants don't have noses, but they detect scents using antennae atop their heads.

These Ants Were Trained to Sniff Out Cancer

In just ten minutes, an ant could learn to identify urine from mice with cancerous tumors, a new study finds

An artist’s reconstruction of Ignacius dawsonae surviving in the warm but dark forests of Ellesmere Island

Primate-Like Critters Survived in the Arctic When It Was a Lush, Warm Swamp

Even as darkness gripped the forests for months, two small species made it home

Park rangers found Toadzilla while conducting track work.

At Almost Six Pounds, ‘Toadzilla’ May Be the Largest Toad Ever Found

Captured in a national park in Australia, the cane toad was later euthanized due to the invasive animal’s threat to the environment

Derek Burgoyne captured the moment a moose sheds its antlers using a drone in New Brunswick, Canada.

Watch Rare Drone Video of a Moose Shedding Its Antlers

A wildlife enthusiast in eastern Canada stumbled across the magnificent event this month

The animals were preserved in a different manner than most mummified crocodiles.

Archaeologists in Egypt Unearth 2,500-Year-Old Mummified Crocodiles

The remains include five reptile heads and five nearly intact specimens

A snowshoe hare in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado

See 25 Stunning Images From the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest

Vote for your favorite among these photos shortlisted in the People’s Choice category until February 2

Extinct trilobites called Walliserops trifurcatus may have been among the first creatures on Earth to engage in sexual combat, a new study finds.

This ‘Jousting’ Trilobite Might Be the First Known Creature to Fight for a Mate

Using a “trident” attached to its head, the arthropod may have competed for sexual dominance 400 million years ago

Red junglefowl, ancestors of wild chickens, are known to mix with domestic birds.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Why Chickens Need to Stop Breeding With Their Wild Cousins

The red junglefowl is losing important genetic diversity in its native Asian habitat

Monogenean worms dissected from the gills of a preserved copper rockfish from the University of Washington Fish Collection at the Burke Museum

Puget Sound’s Parasites Are Disappearing—but Don’t Be Glad to Say Goodbye

The decline, which was correlated with warming waters in a new study, is bad news for ecosystems

Tyrannosaur fossils show the animals squared off and bit each other in the face.

Busted and Broken Fossils Show How Dinosaurs Fought

From locking horns to biting each other in the face, this is how dinos of the same species battled

Researchers are using novel technologies to study polar bears, which live in the rapidly warming Arctic.

Five Revolutionary Technologies Helping Scientists Study Polar Bears

As climate change threatens the charismatic creatures, scientists are embracing innovations to help them understand and protect the bears

Atlas Moth by Uday Hegde, the second-place winner in the butterflies and dragonflies category of this year's Close-up Photographer of the Year competition

These Awe-Inspiring Images Capture the World’s Little Details

See this year’s winners of the annual Close-up Photographer of the Year competition

A Pasadena resident photographs a peacock as it spreads out its tail feathers on the front lawn of her home in 2021.

California City Relocates Noisy Peacocks

The colorful birds have sparked disputes between residents in South Pasadena, with some enjoying the animals and others wanting them gone

Archaeological artifacts as well as bone fragments up to 5,000 years old were discovered at two Spanish homes.

Police Discover Hundreds of Stolen Artifacts at Two Spanish Residences

The collection includes bones, Paleolithic tools, an ancient Roman loom and more

A cave painting of an extinct cattle species from Lascaux, France, with markings on its back.

Could These Cave Markings Be the Earliest Form of Writing?

New research proposes that symbols in 20,000-year-old cave drawings are a proto-writing system, but not all scientists are convinced

An impala runs away from a cheetah.

How the Brain Calculates a Quick Escape

Scientists are beginning to unravel the complex circuitry behind the split-second decision to beat a hasty retreat

The new local celebrity of Cypress, California, perches on a rooftop.

A Rare Snowy Owl Is Captivating Southern California

How the Arctic bird ended up among palm trees remains a mystery

Scientists believe that at several times in Earth’s history the planet was covered by ice.

How Animals May Have Conquered Snowball Earth

We know there were animals during our planet’s chilliest era. But what did they look like?

A team led by Laurits Skov and Benjamin Peter from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sequenced nuclear, mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA of 13 Neanderthal individuals. From these sequences, they determined that two of the Neanderthals represent a father-daughter pair and that another two are cousins.

Fourteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2022

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists reveal the year’s most riveting findings about our close relatives and ancestors

One of the first-ever photos of a young pink iguana

First Recorded Pink Iguana Hatchlings Found on Galápagos Island

After a ten-month effort, researchers discovered the young endangered reptiles on a remote volcano

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