The 910-carat diamond discovered in Lesotho

Cool Finds

World’s Fifth-Largest Diamond Found in Lesotho

The 910-carat gem is a D-color, type-IIa stone, meaning it is completely colorless and has no visible impurities

Trending Today

Meet the Newly Named 86 Stars of the Night Sky

The new names are drawn from China, Australia, South Africa, Maya, Polynesian and Coptic traditions

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer stands with the taxidermied remains of her groundbreaking discovery.

In the 1930s, This Natural History Curator Discovered a Living Fossil–Well, Sort of

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was convinced she’d found something special in a pile of fish, but it took some time for her discovery to be recognized

Cool Finds

Little Foot, the Most Complete Australopithecus Fossil, Goes on Display

After 20 years of excavation and cleaning, the 3.67-million year old hominin is ready for her closeup

While highly social and cooperative among themselves, dwarf mongooses take a while to warm up to newcomers.

New Research

For Immigrant Mongooses, It Can Take Time to Earn Society’s Trust

In some species, however, deporting your own family members is the norm

New Research

Genetic Study Shows Skin Color Is Only Skin Deep

Genes for both light and dark pigmentation have been in the human gene pool for at least 900,000 years

Africa’s Largest Contemporary Art Museum Opens in Cape Town

But some critics have questioned whether the institution adequately represents black African artists

Oxpeckers hang out with large ungulates–animals with hoofs like rhinos, giraffes and water buffalo.

Those Little Birds On The Backs Of Rhinos Actually Drink Blood

You think that’s ticks they’re eating?

Mount Hora, the site in Malawi where an 8,100-year-old skeleton was found, yielding the oldest-known DNA from Africa.

New Research

Ancient DNA Helps Scientists Shed Light on How Ancient Africans Moved and Mixed

New techniques help explain why there is little genetic overlap between modern and ancient Malawi people—and promise much more

The skull of Neo, one of the bodies found in the Lesedi Chamber

New Research

Ancient Human Cousin May Have Lived Alongside Early Homo Sapiens

Homo naledi may have been much younger—and more advanced—than previously thought

Later Stone Age paintings

New Research

New Technique Shows San Rock Art Is 5,000 Years Old

Using a highly refined form of carbon dating, researchers were able to date the pigments in art in Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa

Rhinos grazing in a South African park

Trending Today

South Africa to Legalize Domestic Rhino Horn Trade

A court ruling overturns a 2009 ban, a move that conservationists worry will increase poaching

A San man prepares his arrows for hunting in the Living Museum of the Ju’Hoansi-San, Grashoek, Namibia

Trending Today

San People of South Africa Issue Code of Ethics for Researchers

This much-studied population is the first indigenous people of Africa to develop such guidelines

A humpback supergroup off the coast of South Africa

New Research

Scientists Spot Hundreds of Humpback Whales Feeding in Massive Groups

The normally solitary creatures gathered off the southwestern coast of South Africa, puzzling researchers

Furano, Japan

12 Mesmerizing Places to Watch Flowers Bloom

Because there’s no better way exalt the end of winter than with millions of tulips, poppies and roses

A Leaky Roof Has Forced the Johannesburg Art Gallery to Temporarily Close

But there’s some good news to comes out of this soggy situation

Atlas of Eating

Reuben Riffel on Becoming a Top Chef in Post-Apartheid South Africa

South African food culture fosters connection, he says

Workers from the Kenya Wildlife Service carry elephant tusks from shipping containers full of ivory transported from around the country for a mass anti-poaching demonstration.

New Research

Most Ivory for Sale Comes From Recently Killed Elephants—Suggesting Poaching Is Taking Its Toll

Carbon dating finds that almost all trafficked ivory comes from animals killed less than three years before their tusks hit the market

Trending Today

Botswana Unexpectedly Reverses Course on Ivory Trade

The southern African nation now supports protection for the animals instead of limited sales of ivory

African penguins at the Cincinnati Zoo

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The Search for Buddy the Kidnapped Penguin Continues

Two students stole and released an endangered African penguin from an Oceanarium. The problem is Buddy doesn’t have the skills to survive

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