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Reproduction

Ned (right) likely won't be able to reproduce unless another left-coiling snail is found.

A Rare, Left-Coiling Snail Needs Help Finding a Mate. New Zealanders Are Looking for Its 1-in-40,000 Match

Known as Ned, the creature needs a fellow left-coiling garden snail to reproduce—but the species almost always has shells that coil on their right side

Scott Adams, director of the Exotic Zoo, holds a casque-headed iguana. Eight hatchlings were produced at the zoo this summer without a father.

‘Once in a Lifetime’: Rare ‘Virgin Birth’ of Eight Iguana Babies Surprises Zookeepers in England

A female casque-headed iguana produced live hatchlings even though she has never shared an enclosure with a male

Two brothers of different species, produced by the same mother: Messor ibericus (left) and Messor structor (right).

These Ant Queens Seem to Defy Biology: They Lay Eggs That Hatch Into Another Species

Iberian harvester ant queens produce offspring of their own species and of the builder harvester ant, seemingly by cloning males

Pygmy seahorses are exceptional camouflage artists.

These Bumpy Little Seahorses Are Amazing Camouflage Artists. Scientists Pinpoint the Gene Loss Behind Their Special Traits

Bargibant’s pygmy seahorses look almost exactly like the gorgonian corals they live in, thanks in part to their unusually stubby snouts

Greater flamingos are abundant in the Camargue, a coastal region in southern France.

Migratory Flamingos Age Differently From Resident Ones, Offering a New Clue About Getting Old

A new study of the pink birds in France finds that aging sets in later for flamingos that migrate, though they face higher mortality in early adulthood

A human embryo embeds itself into a fake uterus created by researchers.

See the First 3D Images of a Human Embryo Implanting, Shedding Light on the Crucial but Little-Known Process

A new study shows how human embryos reshape their environment by pulling on uterine tissue

Researchers found scrape marks on a slope at Dinosaur Ridge, a fossil-rich site west of Denver.

Dinosaurs Gathered to Perform Mating Dances With Kicks and Spins at This Site in Colorado—and You Can Go See It for Yourself

Paleontologists have discovered what appears to be one of the largest dinosaur courtship arenas in the world, just 15 miles west of Denver

Lead author Judith Pardo-Pérez where the fossil, nicknamed Fiona, was discovered.

A Rare, Pregnant Ichthyosaur Fossil Discovered in Chile Is Revealing More Secrets About the Early Cretaceous World

The fossil helps scientists better understand not just the animal, but our planet’s geology

A close-up of a kelp gull in its native habitat in Chile. This is not the individual bird seen in Wisconsin.

Southern Hemisphere Gull Seen in Wisconsin for the First Time, Drawing Tourists for a Rare Glimpse of the Out-of-Place Bird

The vagrant kelp gull mated with a local herring gull, though the chick did not survive. Experts say it’s a “complete mystery” how the bird came to nest so far north in the first place

In December 2024, a trail camera installed on private property in Oklahoma's Cimarron County photographed an adult mountain lion with three kittens.

Rare Mountain Lion Kittens Spotted on Trail Cameras Suggest the Big Cats May Be Re-establishing a Population in Oklahoma

Two separate adult mountain lions were recorded with cubs in different parts of the state last year, offering the first evidence confirmed by state biologists that the cats could be breeding there

Formosan termites (Coptotermes formosanus) are among two invasive termite species that are interbreeding in South Florida.

Two Invasive Termites Are Interbreeding in Florida, Raising Concerns That the Hybrid Pests Could Spread Around the World

Previous research found that Asian and Formosan termites could produce offspring together, and now, scientists have found these creatures established in the wild

The new study suggests that 73 million years ago, birds and dinosaurs lived side by side in the Arctic.

Scientists Find the First Evidence of Birds Nesting in the Arctic Alongside Dinosaurs

The researchers analyzed rare fossils of hatchling birds found in northern Alaska, which offered the earliest evidence of the creatures reproducing in a polar region

A group of female South Korean free divers on Jeju Island, known as the Haenyeo, exit the water after catching marine snails in November 2015.

South Korea’s Female Free Divers May Have Evolved to Thrive Underwater, Study Finds

The Haenyeo, a group of skilled divers on Jeju Island, plunge beneath the ocean’s surface without any breathing equipment, thanks to a combination of their training and genetics

Rangers witnessed a captive Powelliphanta augusta snail lay an egg from its neck, and they managed to catch it on video for the first time ever.

Watch a Giant Snail Lay an Egg From a Pore in Its Neck in First-Ever Footage Captured in New Zealand

Conservation rangers took a video of an endangered, captive snail laying a large egg, revealing insight into the creature’s reproductive process

Researchers reveal that some superb starlings form long-term, friendship-like relationships.

These Colorful Birds Form Long-Term ‘Friendships’ by Helping Out With Babysitting, Study Suggests

While scientists have observed animals assisting their relatives, a new study reveals that many superb starlings also form supportive relationships with non-relatives that can last for years

Visitors flock to botanic gardens when their corpse flowers are in bloom. But these charismatic plants are threatened by inbreeding and low genetic diversity, in part due to spotty recordkeeping at institutions around the globe.

Stinky Corpse Flowers Face a Recordkeeping Problem at Botanic Gardens, and It’s Leading to Inbreeding, Study Finds

Inconsistent data may be hurting conservation efforts for these endangered plants, known for attracting visitors to their scent of rotting flesh

A female Guam kingfisher (left) and a male (right) perch on a branch on Palmyra Atoll.

Biologists Rejoice as Extremely Rare Guam Kingfishers Lay Their First Wild Eggs in Nearly 40 Years

The brightly colored birds are extinct in the wild, having disappeared from their native Guam in 1988 due to the introduction of the invasive brown tree snake. But now, they’re starting to make a comeback on Palmyra Atoll

The black and peachy-orange orca calf was seen swimming with, Sedna, a descendant of one of the Budd Inlet Six.

New Orca Calf Is a Descendant of the ‘Budd Inlet Six,’ the Last Killer Whales Captured in United States Waters in 1976

The black and slightly orange Bigg’s killer whale was spotted swimming with its mother, Sedna, in the Salish Sea

A newly described wasp species, Sirenobethylus charybdis, had a tail with paddles and trigger hairs that scientists say was used to catch and parasitize insects. The scale bar is 0.5 millimeters.

Ancient, Parasitic Wasp Used Its Rear End Like a Venus Flytrap to Catch Insects and Lay Its Eggs on Them, Study Suggests

Scientists say they’ve never seen anything like this “truly unique” species, which was found encased in amber

When they're alarmed, blue-lined octopuses display iridescent blue rings on their arms to ward off approaching predators.

These Male Octopuses Use Venom to Subdue Female Mates—and Avoid Being Eaten After Sex

Scientists observed male blue-lined octopuses injecting tetrodotoxin into females, which rendered them immobile for mating

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