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Animals

Seals in Bar Harbor, Maine

Seal Strandings in Maine Linked to Bird Flu

Four stranded pinnipeds tested positive for the avian influenza H5N1

The trunk, ears and tail of this baby woolly mammoth, named Nun cho ga, are almost perfectly preserved.

Cool Finds

Well-Preserved, 30,000-Year-Old Baby Woolly Mammoth Emerges From Yukon Permafrost

The mummified creature is helping to heal the rift between the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people and the miners and scientists who came to their lands

Researchers say photo recognition could help scientists learn more about how seals move around.

Introducing Facial Recognition Software for Seals

A neural network, trained using thousands of photos of harbor seals, offers a noninvasive way of telling the pinnipeds apart

In the midst of fire- and drought-ravaged savanna in southeastern Madagascar, a curiously lush green forest is home to myriad unexpected life-forms, including a species of mouse lemur.

Into the Forbidden Forest

Famed American biologist Patricia Wright explores an astonishing breadth of biodiversity in the wilderness of Madagascar

Meraxes had a large skull and short arms, in the same proportions as Tarbosaurus, a relative of T. rex.

Paleontologists Uncover New Dinosaur With Tiny Arms Like T. Rex

The predator is among the most complete of its kind ever found

The Cascade red fox (which isn't always red) does not hibernate. Along with pocket gophers, voles, birds and snowshoe hares, it eats fruits and insects. 

Planet Positive

Where Fox News Is Hard to Come By

A mountain range in the Pacific Northwest is a last bastion for a unique canine

An 1897 painting by Charles R. Knight depicting two dinosaurs called “Laelaps” in an energetic fight, suggesting they may have been warm-blooded.

Paleontologists Are Still Puzzling Over Why Dinosaurs Ran Hot

New evidence reveals details about the physiology of animals that have been extinct for over 66 million years

The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, spreads dengue fever, Zika, chikungunya and other viruses that infect humans.

Dengue Fever and Zika Virus Make Humans More Attractive to Mosquitoes

Scientists conducted human and mouse studies to find the skin bacteria responsible for the draw

The remains of an ancient tortoise in Pompeii

Cool Finds

In Pompeii, Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Pregnant Tortoise

The tortoise was likely looking for a safe place to lay her egg when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E.

A skeleton of the giant Triassic ichthyosaur Shonisaurus popularis hangs in the Nevada State Museum.

Whale-Sized Marine Reptiles Once Ruled the Seas

Paleontologists are beginning to learn how and why ichthyosaurs evolved into giants

In total, researchers made CT scans of the inner ears of 147 frog species. With these scans, the team determined that Brachycephalus toads' semicircular canals are the smallest ever recorded for adult vertebrates.

The Pumpkin Toadlet’s Miniature Size Makes It a Lousy Hopper

These amphibians’ tiny inner ear canals make balancing mid-jump a challenge

Exotic animals including parrots and monkeys served as pets and entertainment in California in the 1850s.

The Monkeys and Parrots Caught Up in the California Gold Rush

Researchers combed through 19th-century records and found evidence of the species, which joined a menagerie that included Galapagos tortoises and kangaroos

A cat chews up and rolls around in the leaves of the silver vine plant.

When Cats Chew Catnip, It Works as a Bug Spray

Plant leaves that repel mosquitoes release a more effective repellant after being crushed up by felines

Archaeologists found the remains of roughly 350 frogs near an Iron Age roundhouse.

How Did Thousands of Frog Bones End Up Buried at an Iron Age Settlement?

Archaeologists are trying to make sense of the remains, found in a ditch in England

A Mexican wolf pup less than 14 days old is given a health check before being placed into a wild den in New Mexico.

Eleven Mexican Gray Wolf Pups Released Into the Wild

The pups were part of a cross-fostering program to boost genetic diversity in the endangered subspecies

Chilean devil rays swim in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. 

What Are Scientists Learning About the Deepest Diving Creatures in the Ocean?

Animals-turned-oceanographers are helping biologists find out what they do when they get to the cold, dark depths

A bison walking on a road in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. 

Woman Gored by a Bison in Yellowstone National Park

An Ohio woman came within ten feet of the animal and was thrown ten feet in the air

Giraffes may have evolved such long necks, in part, because of sexual competition.

An Extinct, Head-Butting Animal May Help Explain Giraffes’ Long Necks

The giraffe’s ancestor used its sturdy head and neck to fight for mates

Paleontologists are just beginning to uncover the evolutionary backstory of armored dinosaurs like the ankylosaur Euoplocephalus.

New Fossil Finds Track When Armored Dinosaurs Spread Around the World

Discoveries in Asia and Africa are rewriting the backstory of dinosaurs like Stegosaurus

Researchers wanted to study how Anna's hummingbirds adapted to higher elevation. (Pictured: male Anna's hummingbird)

Scientists Moved Hummingbirds to High Elevations to See How Climate Change Might Affect Them

Artificial migrations to colder environments altered the small bird’s metabolism and ability to fly

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