Reproduction

Project leader Laura Cinti visited the Wood's cycad at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London.

The 'World's Loneliest Plant' Could Soon Find a Mate With a Little Help From A.I.

The only known wild Wood's cycad was discovered in 1895, and it has since been cloned into many male trees. Now, researchers are scouring a forest in South Africa for an elusive female specimen

For some animals, romance goes more smoothly when it comes with gifts.

When It Comes to Romantic Gift-Giving, Humans Aren’t Alone. Snails, Birds and Flies All Woo Each Other With Presents

Throughout the animal kingdom, sweethearts bestow offerings with their amorous advances

An 18th-century illustration of a jury of matrons

How All-Female 'Juries of Matrons' Shaped Legal History

Courts called on these jurors to determine whether women sentenced to death were pregnant or faking it to avoid execution

At the beginning of June, aquarium officials announced Charlotte was no longer pregnant due to a reproductive disease.

Charlotte the 'Pregnant Virgin' Stingray Dies After Diagnosis of Reproductive Disease

The animal drew attention earlier this year for becoming pregnant despite having no male ray in her tank

Tusks and other fossilized remains are all that's left of the woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island thousands of years ago.

What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn't Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world's last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island

Charlotte is a round stingray, a species named for its circular, disk-shaped body.

'Pregnant Virgin' Stingray Won't Give Birth After All—Here's Why

Charlotte, a female round stingray in North Carolina who has gathered a legion of online fans, is no longer pregnant due to a "rare reproductive disease"

The world's oldest common loons, ABJ and Fe, in July 2020. The pair's 32nd and last hatched chick sits on Fe's back.

Follow the Soap Opera-Worthy Relationship Drama of the World's Oldest Common Loons

Called ABJ and Fe, the duo mated every spring for 25 years—but they split up in 2022. Now, they’re back at their Michigan breeding grounds, showing no signs of getting together

Eastern coyotes—a subspecies that has coyote, wolf and domestic dog DNA—run in a West Virginia forest.

Five Shocking Animal Hybrids That Truly Exist in Nature, From Narlugas to Grolar Bears to Coywolves

The now-famous “virgin” stingray Charlotte is not having hybrid babies, scientists say. But in nature, distinct species sometimes interbreed to produce surprising offspring

Beluga whales are one of five species of whale that undergo menopause. The new study finds that females in these five species live decades longer than females of similarly sized species.

Whales That Go Through Menopause Live Longer and May Help Care for Grandchildren

Alongside humans, five species of toothed whales are known to experience menopause. A new study suggests they evolved the trait to increase their lifespan

The otherworldly form of the octopus has inspired millennia of fear and awe from humans.

Ten Wild Facts About Octopuses: They Have Three Hearts, Big Brains and Blue Blood

These bizarre creatures have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and for humans, they’ve inspired horror, admiration and culinary prestige

Charlotte, a round stingray, was determined to be pregnant, despite not having a male ray companion for at least eight years.

A Female Stingray That Hasn't Had a Mate in Eight Years Is Mysteriously Pregnant. Is a Shark the Father?

Though the round stingray, named Charlotte, shares her aquarium tank with two male sharks, experts say it is impossible for a shark to impregnate a ray

A mother "Dorado" octopus, one of the newly announced species, protects her eggs some 3,000 meters under the ocean's surface.

Biologists Discover Four New Octopus Species in the Deep Ocean Off Costa Rica

One species was found brooding eggs near low-temperature hydrothermal vents, a rare sight that could unlock new information on deep-sea cephalopods

One possible explanation for the low-frequency noises? Mating black drum fish.

Mysterious Bass Sounds Irking Florida Residents Might Just Be Fish Mating Loudly

The Tampa community raised money to fund an investigation, and now, a local scientist will install underwater microphones to look for the source of the racket

Female northern white rhinos Najin and Fatu are the last of their species and reside at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

World's First IVF Rhino Pregnancy Could Save a Nearly Extinct Subspecies

Only two northern white rhinos remain, but the new reproductive breakthrough may pull them back from the brink of erasure

Gaia is still getting comfortable in her new environment.

See the 'Adorable'—and Deadly—Black-Footed Cat at a Utah Zoo

Eight-month-old Gaia is part of a breeding program for her vulnerable species, which is considered the "world's deadliest cat"

Around 80 percent of pregnant people experience morning sickness, or bouts of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Why Most Pregnant People Experience Morning Sickness—and How It Could Be Treated

A hormone produced by the fetus may induce nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, a new study finds

Atlantic bluefin tuna circle a holding pen near Malta. The Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico were long thought to be the only locales where the massively valuable fish spawns.

Bluefin Tuna Get Busy Off North Carolina

The extremely valuable fish likely spawn in a patch of the Atlantic Ocean called the Slope Sea

When erect, the penises of male serotine bats are seven times longer than female bats' vaginas and seven times wider than the females' vaginal openings.

This Bat Uses Its Extra Long Penis Like an Arm While Mating

Serotine bats are the first mammals known to mate without penetration, new research suggests

Female chimps at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, in 2005. The new study followed 185 chimps in Uganda's Kibale National Park for 21 years.

Wild Female Chimpanzees Go Through Menopause, Study Finds

Until now, menopause had not been documented in wild, non-human animals, except for a few species of toothed whales

Tian Tian playing in the snow. Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their son Xiao Qi Ji will return to China by December 7.

Why the National Zoo Is Saying Goodbye to Its Giant Pandas

Staff remain hopeful that members of the threatened species will be back in Washington in the near future

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