Environment

A new report finds platypus numbers are declining in Australia, prompting the authors of the report to call for the species to be listed as endangered.

Platypuses Lost 22% of Their Habitat Over Last 30 Years

The startling finding comes in a report that documents the iconic Australian animal’s decline and recommends increased legal protections

Can you see the plant in this picture? This small brown Fritillaria delavayi has evolved camouflage in response to heavy harvesting by humans. The more closely the plant mimics its environment, the harder it is for humans to find and harvest the plant.

Medicinal Plant May Have Evolved Camouflage to Evade Humans

In places where people harvest the plant most aggressively, its color has changed to blend in with the rocky environment

A new study finds beaver-eating wolves alter the landscape in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota by changing the number and distribution of beaver ponds.

Minnesota Wolves Are Eating Beavers and Reshaping Wetlands

A new study finds that when a wolf kills a beaver its abandoned dam falls apart and goes unoccupied for more than a year

Daphne, an autonomous solar-powered vessel developed by British Columbia–based Open Ocean Robotics, is part of a wave of new ocean robots designed to police illegal fishing.

A New Generation of Autonomous Vessels Is Looking to Catch Illegal Fishers

A design challenge has tech companies racing to build a robot that can police illegal fishing in marine protected areas

Bee species are more diverse in dry regions where pollen is abundant.

Scientists Create a Buzz With the First Ever Global Map of Bee Species

Most of the insects avoid the tropics and choose treeless environments in arid parts of the world

A view inside the Asian giant hornet nest that Washington State entomologists destroyed last month.

Asian Giant Hornet Nest May Have Contained 200 Queens

Officials say they’ve counted roughly 500 hornets in various stages of development after examining a nest they found and destroyed last month

Two banded mongoose groups face off.

Warmongering Female Mongooses Lead Their Groups Into Battle to Mate With the Enemy

New research finds females of this species engineer conflicts with rival groups to gain sexual access to males outside their group and combat inbreeding

The fin of a great white shark being tagged by researchers off the coast of Southern California.

Record Number of Great Whites Tagged in Southern California

Researchers working in Southern California tagged 38 sharks this year, more than triple last year’s total

A satellite image shows the A68a iceberg in the lower left. The chunk of ice looks a bit like a pointed finger, and scientists say it's currently on a path to collide with the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.

Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Decimate Wildlife on South Atlantic Island

Iceberg A68a is on track to hit the British Territory of South Georgia, where it could complicate access to food for millions of seals and seabirds

Litter, much of it plastic, dots a beach in Santa Monica, CA, the morning after a beach cleanup.

The U.S. Is the World's Number One Source of Plastic Waste

In 2016, the average American produced 286 pounds of plastic waste, the highest rate per capita of any country on Earth

More ships are cruising through Arctic waters but when disaster strikes, there is little information on how it might affect the environment, and little preparation for quick action.

The Race to Study Arctic Waters

In the far north, researchers are scrambling to record baseline environmental data as communities brace for future shipping disasters

A stunned iguana lying on the ground during a cold snap in Florida on January 22, 2020. When temperatures dropped into the 30s and 40s, some of these cold blooded lizards lost their grip and fell from their nighttime perches up in the trees.

Lizards Fell From Palm Trees During a Florida Cold Snap, but Now They've Toughened Up

New research finds the lizards are now able to withstand temperatures up to 7.2 degrees colder than lizards tested in 2016

A still from the first ever video of a live ram's head squid in the wild.

See Strange Squid Filmed in the Wild for the First Time

The elusive creature is called the ram’s horn squid after a spiral-shaped internal shell that is often found by beachcombers

Time-lapse of fruiting mushrooms

Watch an Amazing Time-Lapse of Growing Mushrooms

A mesmerizing 10,000-shot video captures the dramatic life cycles of several species

When natural places are destroyed, wildlife are exposed to humans at the edges of their habitat, and they can expand their territories into urban areas, increasing the likelihood of contact with humans.

To Prevent Future Pandemics, Protect Nature

All six of the most recent pandemics have been linked to destructive human activities like deforestation, climate change and the wildlife trade

A swordfish photographed underwater southwest of Tampa, Florida.

Shark Stabbed Through the Heart and a Swordfish Is to Blame

Recent research documents the latest instance of a strange but not unheard-of phenomenon in which swordfish impale sharks with their bills

For "Overboard," artist Andy Yoder created more than 200 Nike Air Jordan sneakers using garbage.

Artist Fashions Nike Air Jordan 5s From Trash

Sculptor Andy Yoder's latest exhibition is a nod to the Great Shoe Spill of 1990 and the advances in ocean science that came from it

An entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture vacuums invasive Asian giant hornets out of a nest discovered last week in the city of Blaine on October 24, 2020.

Entomologists Destroy Asian Giant Hornet Nest Found in Washington

The crew sucked nearly 100 hornets from the tree-hollow hive—the first ever found in the U.S.—using a vacuum and captured escapees with nets

Fish and corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Between a quarter and a third of all marine species spend some part of their life cycle in coral reefs.

Climate Change Has Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef's Corals

A new study finds corals on the Australian mega-reef declined 50 percent between 1995 and 2017

Theories surrounding the source of the pollution are still swirling.

Hundreds of Dead Animals Wash Ashore on Russian Beach After Reports of Mysterious, Toxic Sludge

Investigations are still underway, but experts theorize that leaked hazardous materials from military bases are to blame

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