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Biology

The adult male fox was evaluated by veterinarians and released three days later into the Laguna Colombia State Reserve, where conservationist Rafael Chacón snapped additional photos.

See the First-Ever Photographs of Cozumel’s Elusive Dwarf Fox, One of the Rarest Canids in the World

No one had seen the creatures in more than two decades, leading scientists to wonder whether they’d gone extinct. That changed in September 2023

Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants have long intrigued scientists, including English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Venus Flytraps Snap Their Traps Shut in Less Than a Second. Scientists Say They’ve Discovered How the Predatory Plants Are So Fast

The walls of cells in the leaves’ outer layer suddenly soften, allowing the structures to hinge into a closed position, according to a new study

Goblin sharks have elongated snouts and extendable jaws, which they use to snatch prey.

‘Ugliest Shark on the Planet’: See the Elusive Goblin Shark, Filmed for the First Time in Its Deep-Sea Habitat

Scientists spotted the enigmatic creatures in 2019 and again in 2024, marking the first times they’ve been observed alive in the wild. The sightings drastically expand the animals’ known geographic and depth range

Scientists explored a tiny portion of the site during more than 30 dives with a submersible.

Scientists Discover the World’s Largest, Deepest Whale Graveyard, Where Cetacean Remains Have Been Piling Up for Five Million Years

The massive necropolis, located deep in the southeastern Indian Ocean, is teeming with marine life supported by the whale carcasses, including many suspected new species

A swan swims on the Scharmützelsee at sunrise on July 2, 2025, when temperatures in the nearby German cities of Berlin and Brandenberg were expected to hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystems

Fire salamanders are among the most-studied amphibians in Europe, yet until now, no one realized they are biofluorescent.

Scientists Have Been Studying Fire Salamanders for More Than 250 Years. They Just Discovered That the Creatures Glow Under UV Light

Fire salamanders—one of Europe’s most well-researched amphibians—are biofluorescent, which means they can absorb light from an external source at one wavelength, then re-emit it at another

Queen bee larvae develop in unique peanut-shaped cells.

What Determines Royalty Among Honeybees? Not Just a Distinct Diet—Queens Also Need Specially Built Regal Chambers, a Study Suggests

The peanut-shaped compartments where future queens grow up seem to play an important role in development. The wax has chemical and physical differences from that in other parts of the hive

Pigeons that had been injected with a drug to deplete their special liver cells did not find their way home until the sun came out.

How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests That the Birds’ Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers

The birds might use the organs’ iron-rich immune cells as internal compasses on overcast days, when they must rely on Earth’s magnetic field, instead of the sun’s light cues, for navigation

A microscope image of tissue taken from a sea cucumber. The green coloring indicates cellular activity.

Scientists Say They’ve Discovered ‘Little Lab Zombies’—Seemingly Immortal Tissue Taken From Sea Cucumbers

Chunks removed from the marine creatures more than three years ago haven’t degraded and show signs of biological activity, raising questions about what it means to be alive

After being declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, Przewalski's horses are slowly making a comeback.

‘Playful Youngster’: See the Rare, Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Born at the Bronx Zoo

The foal was born on April 21 and is now romping around with the rest of the herd in the zoo’s seasonal Wild Asia Monorail exhibit. It belongs to a species whose members are often considered the last truly wild horses

Scientists carried out their experiments in the bacterium Escherichia coli. Cells of the species are artificially colored blue in this microscope image.

Scientists Used A.I. to Redesign a Microbe’s Machinery to Function Without a Key Ingredient of Life

Although the researchers did not create an entire cell that could function without a crucial building block, the findings represent a big step in synthetic biology and provide a glimpse at how Earth’s earliest organisms may have lived

In February 2020, naturalist guides Lizardo Proaño and Juan Carlos Narváez photographed a harvestman eating a live frog during a night hike at Mashpi Lodge in Ecuador.

Daddy Longlegs Seem to Hunt Frogs in South America, Revealing the Gangly Arachnids as Overlooked Predators

A new study suggests that harvestmen actively attack the slippery amphibians, rather than just scavenging them. The findings hint that the spineless creatures have a more complex relationship with vertebrates than previously thought

Human development—such as roads—affects wildlife. But so does the presence of people.

The Mere Presence of Humans—Not Just Our Changes to the Land—Can Alter Wild Animals’ Behaviors, a New Study Suggests

Researchers examined GPS tracking data from thousands of animals representing 37 species and anonymized cellphone location data from 2020, a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, and the previous year

The researchers studied four captive belugas housed at the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Belugas Can Recognize Themselves in Mirrors, Joining a Short List of Nonhuman Species That Show Signs of Self-Awareness

The researchers hope that this new understanding of cognition in the toothed whales will increase human empathy and concern for the animals, leading to more efforts to protect them

Gentoo penguins have been considered a rare beneficiary of climate change due to their population growth on the Antarctic Peninsula. Splitting the birds into four species brings to light regional threats and declines.

Gentoo Penguins Are Actually Four Different Species, Scientists Say, Revealing They’re Not Quite ‘Winners’ of Climate Change After All

A new study indicates that the adaptable birds evolved into distinct lineages as isolated populations shifted to match their environmental conditions over time. The work has implications for how conservationists assess threats to gentoos

Researchers tracked children's reactions to particular food exposure when they were fetuses, newborns and then 3-year-olds.

Want to Avoid Having a Picky Eater? Start Exposing Your Kids to Veggies Super Early—in the Womb

In a new study, 3-year-olds who were repeatedly exposed to the taste of bitter kale as fetuses appeared to be less averse to the leafy greens’ scent than they were to a food smell they hadn’t experienced in utero

In laboratory experiments, house crickets groomed an antenna that had been touched by a hot soldering iron.

Can Insects Feel Pain? New Research Suggests That Crickets Do

Used for food, feed and research, the critters are among the most widely farmed bugs. The study authors say humans should work to reduce harm in insect farming, handling and experimentation

Researchers don't know what drives whale gaping in humpback whales, but the observations posted to social media can help them identify context clues.

Humpback Whales Sometimes Hold Their Mouths Open for No Clear Reason. Tourists Are Helping Scientists Understand the Rare Behavior

A trove of photos and videos gathered from social media has helped researchers propose a few possible reasons for the seldom documented action, called “gaping,” including communication, jaw stretching and play

CAR-T cells are a patient's own T cells, a form of white blood cell, that have been genetically modified to recognize and destroy certain cancer or autoimmune cells that might otherwise be tolerated by the immune system.

How a Revolutionary Cancer Treatment Could Reset the Immune Systems of Patients With Autoimmune Diseases

Researchers are testing CAR T-cell therapy as a treatment for lupus, Graves’ disease and other conditions in which the body’s defenses go rogue

Remoras might dive into manta rays' rear ends when they're scared.

This Fish Hitches Rides in Manta Rays’ ‘Buttholes,’ According to New Research

Scientists suspect that the behavior could harm the manta rays, suggesting a complex relationship between remoras and their hosts that can sometimes be parasitic

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