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Biology

A harbor porpoise surfaces near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Marine Biologists Solved a Wildlife Mystery From the Walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge: How the Harbor Porpoise Mates

The dolphin-like marine mammals returned to San Francisco Bay in 2008 after a decades-long absence from the area. Scientists took the rare opportunity to closely observe their behavior, and what they uncovered might help at-risk porpoise populations

A blue whale has been gathering food deep within the water column and reaches the surface with its throat pleats still distended, forming an enormous pouch. Within a few moments the whale will right itself up, expell the water, swallow the food, take several breaths and dive again.

The Global Web of Subsea Cables That Connects the World Can Now Detect Whales—Even When They’re Silent

A diving whale revealed how existing technology makes it possible to monitor cetaceans swimming quietly across the seabed

The belly is one of the most ticklish body parts across analyzed cultures.

From Armpits to Feet, Our Ticklish Hot Spots Are Surprisingly Universal. The Finding Offers Clues About the Sensation’s Evolutionary Origins

A new study probes the basics of gargalesis, a poorly understood type of tickling caused by firm, repetitive touches that typically elicits laughter and squirming

The small blue, shown here, has lost about 40 percent of its habitat in the United Kingdom over the last 150 years.

Butterflies Around the World Are Moving to New Habitats, Largely Because of Climate Change, a Study Suggests

Researchers examined data on 1,758 butterfly species—about ten percent of all those known—from 105 countries and estimated that about one in ten global species has shifted its distribution range

Researchers involved in the study collect samples at Blood Falls.

Why Does Antarctica’s Blood Falls Spew Ruby Red Water? Microbes Offer New Clues About the Geologic Feature’s Ancient Origins

The falls contain saltwater rich with iron, which oxidizes and turns red when exposed to air. A new study provides further evidence that the brine probably comes from ocean water trapped when flood waters retreated millions of years ago

The sticky hairs on the alpine flower trap tiny insects. 

Charles Darwin Theorized That These Plants Were Carnivorous 150 Years Ago. A New Study Proves Him Right

As the naturalist predicted in 1875, some Saxifraga plants consume insects—using sticky hairs to trap them

A digital illustration of typical prokaryotes—cells that do not contain a nucleus. Bacteria and archaea are the two kinds of prokaryotes on Earth, and their ancestors were the first organisms to evolve.

A New Study Points to Two Origins of Life on Earth by Tracing Early Chemical Reactions in Single-Celled Organisms

The work challenges the assumption that all life descended from one free-living cell. Instead, it suggests that two microbial lineages, the bacteria and archaea, evolved independently from a primordial, nonliving ancestor

Researchers tested the superworms' skeleton-cleaning abilities by letting them loose on a variety of animal skeletons, including those of a rook, an alligator gar, a Eurasian eagle owl, a gray wolf and a wild cat.

Flesh-Eating ‘Superworms’ Could Become a New Skeleton-Cleaning Crew for Museum and Research Specimens

A new study hints that the critters would be a good alternative to traditional methods used to remove flesh from bones, including dermestid beetles, chemical treatments and boiling, which can cause damage or be time-consuming

South America was home to the marsupial sabertooth, illustrated on the left, while North America was home to the smilodon, on the right. The species competed with each other after the Panamanian land bridge connected North and South America.

Ancient North American Mammals May Have Gathered in Mexico and Diversified Before Moving to South America, Priming Them to Thrive There

An analysis of fossils from the country hints that animals from the north stayed in a “holding pen” between seven million and ten million years ago. The timeline might help explain why so many South American mammals have North American ancestry, but not vice versa

The dominant female wolf of Yellowstone's Canyon pack on February 26, 2015

Rooted in the American West: Food, History and Culture

Yellowstone Is Among the World’s Best Places to See Wild Wolves. Here’s the Story of the Animal Called Both ‘Public Enemy’ and Cultural Icon

A century ago, resident wolves were eliminated from the park. In 1995, biologists brought them back, marking a historic reintroduction of a top carnivore

Gunther von Hagens wearing his signature black fedora

This Man Turned Human Corpses Into Popular Museum Displays. Now, the Creator of These Controversial ‘Body Worlds’ Has Donated His Own Body to Science

Gunther von Hagens, who invented plastination, a method of preserving bodies by replacing their natural fluids with polymers, recently died at age 81

A blacktip shark, above, looks and behaves like a spinner shark. Scientists are tracking spinner sharks to get a clearer idea of the species' whereabouts.

These Shark Look-Alikes Have Long Confounded Fishers and Scientists on the East Coast. Tracking Where They Migrate Could Help Clear the Confusion

Researchers are tagging and tracking spinner sharks to map out their geographic distribution, because they’ve seen that the range of the very similar blacktip shark has shifted

Keepers and veterinarians are monitoring Milani around the clock.

A Premature Baby Giraffe Born Via C-Section Is Fighting for Her Life at a Zoo in Kansas

According to officials with the Tanganyika Wildlife Park, no known giraffe calf has ever survived the procedure. The youngster, who was recently named Milani, was born on July 11, likely three to seven weeks early

Male chimpanzees were more likely to exchange friendly touches with other males—like Little Jake and Little Joey shown here.

Chimpanzees and Bonobos Use Hugs, Kisses and Friendly Pats to Keep the Peace, Just Like Humans, a New Study Suggests

Since all three ape species diverged from a common ancestor that lived roughly six million to eight million years ago, the findings hint that friendly touching to diffuse tension has deep evolutionary origins

Getting the device to transition between air and water seamlessly was one of the most challenging aspects of the work.

This Robot Can Flap Its Wings to Both Fly and Swim. It Might One Day Help Scientists Study Diving Birds and Survey Ocean Habitats

The bioinspired device, which weighs roughly half a pound and measures around three feet wide, was also modeled after aquatic birds like puffins, gulls and loons

A mother floating belly-up next to her calf

Why Are These Whales Floating Upside-Down? They Might Just Be Moms Who Need a Break From Feeding Their Babies

Each year, southern right whales migrate thousands of miles from their feeding grounds to breed, give birth and raise their young. Taking rests and regulating their calves’ nursing schedules might help mothers conserve energy while they’re far from food

When they hatch, echidna puggles are about the size of a jellybean and weigh half as much as a mini marshmallow.

Good News

Double Puggles: See the Adorable ‘Twin’ Echidnas Born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The two babies hatched this year to one mother during the same breeding season—an extremely rare occurrence, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Kiana Hall, a 33-year-old marketing specialist, captured a viral clip of Jimothy while out for a walk in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.

Trending Today

An Unusual-Looking Raccoon Nicknamed Jimothy Is Winning Hearts Across the Internet for His Short, Round Body

Jimothy has become a local celebrity in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and likely has a rare congenital spine condition

Commercial whalers hunted southern right whales to the brink of extinction. Though the species has rebounded, its recovery has been uneven.

Poop From Southern Right Whales Reveals That the Animals Might Be More Resilient to Climate Change Than We Thought

Scientists long believed that these whales, which swim throughout the Southern Hemisphere, mainly feasted on krill and small crustaceans called copepods, which are disappearing from the warming ocean. A new study suggests that the cetaceans have a more varied, flexible diet

Scientists first spotted the creatures in 2008.

Meet the Orange-Lipped ‘Likweli’ Monkey, a New Species That Was Discovered in the Congo Rainforest

The creatures, which weigh about the same as a small dog, have spiky black hair, orange-cream skin around their mouths and a white patch on their rear ends. Scientists say that they’re probably endangered

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