Animals

Cats rule the world. But how did they get here?

How Cats Conquered the World

Scientists use 9,000 years of feline genetics to chart their global rise to power

Although scientific discoveries about blood started happening in the seventeeth century, blood transfusions are (mostly) a twentieth-century thing.

350 Years Ago, A Doctor Performed the First Human Blood Transfusion. A Sheep Was Involved

Early scientists thought that the perceived qualities of an animal—a lamb’s purity, for instance—could be transmitted to humans in blood form

The American Lobster, 'Homarus americanus,' found on the northern area of the Atlantic coast of America.

Climate Change, and Cod, Are Causing One Heck of a Lobster Boom in Maine

The complex relationships between humans, lobster, and cod are creating boom times--for now

Pasteur took blood samples from a cow, a sheep and a horse who had died of anthrax.

How Sheep's Blood Helped Disprove This Wacky Nineteenth-Century Theory of Illness

Scientists didn't understand that bacteria caused disease, but then enter Louis Pasteur

The dachshund leaps down with his prize.

In 1913, One Gluttonous Pupper Changed the Course of Animation History

Years before "Steamboat Willie," this animated dog hammed it up onscreen

Male deer grow these impressive face ornaments every year, in a cycle of life, death and itchiness.

Antlers Are Miraculous Face Organs That Could Benefit Human Health

There’s so much more to deer antlers than fighting and impressing the ladies

I can haz a sense of inequity?

Wolves and Dogs Both Have a Sense of Fairness

But wolves seem to take inequity much more seriously than dogs

The new rule also bans breeds like the Tibetan Mastiff, pictured here.

Chinese City Institutes One-Dog Policy

Officials in Qingdao say they are trying to limit the amount of disturbance caused by an ever-growing pooch population

Screenshots from the iNaturalist app, which uses "deep learning" to automatically identify what bug—or fish, bird, or mammal—you might be looking at.

AI Plant and Animal Identification Helps Us All Be Citizen Scientists

Apps that use artificial intelligence to allow users to ID unknown specimens are making science more accessible to everyone.

Abused Animals in Connecticut Get Their Own Legal Advocates

Last week, for the first time, a lawyer testified in court on behalf of abused pit bulls

Puntung wallowing in mud as a calf.

One of Malaysia's Last Sumatran Rhinos Has Died

After performing emergency surgery on Puntung, experts realized that the abscess was caused by cancer

“These males were still alive and living around the females, they just apparently weren’t getting any of the matings, or the matings weren’t working,” says Robert C. Fleischer.

Safer Digs for Tortoises Put a Damper on Their Love Lives

A new genetic study surprised scientists who learned the males were not breeding

Meet the Ozark hellbender, an elusive creature that has become only more so as of late.

What the Heck Is a Hellbender—And How Can We Make More of Them?

Why the Saint Louis Zoo decided to invest in this slimy, surprisingly adorable amphibian

Recent research found that fully one third of humanity can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution

Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?

As countries grow richer, light pollution gets worse–but some are fighting to change that

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North

Renaissance maps depicting the “white bears” say more about our own fears and fantasies than about the predators themselves

The new sea turtle tanks have one-way glass to minimize visitor impact on the animals.

A State-of-the-Art Sea Turtle Hospital Welcomes Patients and Visitors in South Carolina

The South Carolina Aquarium invites tourists to visit their reptilian patients, watch surgeries and even conduct mock operations using VR

The Hidden Dangers of Road Salt

It clears our roads, but also spells danger for fish, moose—and sometimes humans

You'll have a tail to tell after visiting this North Carolina museum.

North Carolina Has a House Cat Museum

You’ll want to paws for this roadside attraction

According to Mary Sawyer's account, the lamb was a female. Sarah Hale's poem says it was a male. Sawyer is probably the source with reason to know.

'Mary Had a Little Lamb' Is Based on a True Story

As a child, Mary Sawyer rescued a lamb. Then it followed her to school one day

How Mastiffs Became the World’s Top Dogs

The large, furry dogs of Tibet took an evolutionary shortcut millenia ago

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