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Wildlife

The vaccine can be administered to koalas in a single dose.

A New Vaccine Could Help Save Australia’s Beloved Koalas From Chlamydia, and It Just Got Approved

The disease causes blindness, infertility, severe urinary tract infections and death in the iconic, furry marsupials, which are also threatened by habitat loss

A juvenile spotted ratfish. These deep-sea fish are named for their long, rat-like tails.

This Deep-Sea Fish Has Teeth on Its Forehead—and It Uses Them for Sex

Researchers suggest the rows of pointed structures on the heads of spotted ratfish are true teeth, offering the first known example of teeth located outside the jaw

A leatherback sea turtle hatchling climbs over sargassum on a beach. In a new study, researchers timed sea turtles to see how long it took them to reach the ocean when they had to traverse piles of seaweed.

Seaweed Piles Are Slowing Down Sea Turtle Hatchlings as They Make the Dangerous Trek to the Ocean

In Florida, large mats of sargassum are increasingly washing ashore, creating another obstacle for loggerhead, leatherback and green sea turtles, new research suggests

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

See Ten Gorgeous Photographs of Lions and Discover What Makes the Majestic Felines Special

A new book of essays and images reveals the history of the big cats and how they’ve become a vulnerable species today, and uncovers little-known facts about them

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

Researchers studied genetic samples from 483 mammoths, including from their tusks, bones, skin and molars (shown here).

Scientists Investigate the Bacteria That Colonized Extinct Mammoths—and Uncover the Oldest Known Microbial DNA From a Host

Some of the microbes might have been benign or helpful, while others could have caused deadly diseases

An aardvark emerges from its burrow.

Could Aardvark Burrows Be Ground Zero for the Next Pandemic?

Animals of all kinds mix and mingle in the underground refuges, offering troubling opportunities for diseases to jump species

An artist's interpretation of what early penguins in New Zealand might have looked like

Early Penguins Had Long, Dagger-Like Beaks for Skewering Fish, New Zealand Fossils Reveal

Paleontologists describe four new species of extinct ancestral penguins that help shed light on how the iconic birds evolved after dinosaurs went extinct

Yagi (left) and Quinn (right) are searching for evidence of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia's Way Kambas National Park.

Two Sniffer Dogs Might Have Just Found a Lost Population of Critically Endangered Rhinos

Yagi and Quinn identified scat that was likely left by a Sumatran rhinoceros in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park, where scientists thought the animals had disappeared

Bison graze near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana.

Restoring Bison to Yellowstone Has ‘Reawakened’ the Ecosystem as the Large Animals Migrate, Study Suggests

An analysis of plant diversity and soil health across the bison migration corridor suggests free-roaming bison lead to more nutrient-rich plants

Predatory dinosaurs like Acrocanthosaurus perform a mating dance. Fossils indicating such a dance took place, possibly by this species, were described in 2016.

From Dinosaur Scratches to Insects in Amber, How Paleontologists Uncover Prehistoric Courtship

Researchers have found fossil evidence of varied creatures wooing and mating, as they continue to search for the telltale signs of dinosaurs copulating

Five-year-old Segi, rescued in 2021, learns how to climb at “jungle school,” run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

An Orangutan Sanctuary in Borneo Is Giving the Endangered Primates a Second Chance, Just When They Need It Most

The critically endangered species gets a helping hand from an Indonesian facility as the island’s human population is about to explode

The sailback houndshark was first described as a new genus and species in 1973.

Elusive Sailback Houndshark Rediscovered in Papua New Guinea After 50 Years

The creatures are occasionally caught by local fishermen but hadn’t been scientifically recorded since the 1970s

The teeth specimens were collected from discarded teeth at the Sealife Oberhausen aquarium in Germany.

Sharks’ Teeth Could Suffer Damage as Ocean Acidification Intensifies, Study Suggests

Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are leading to a drop in ocean pH, a change that might eventually make it harder for sharks to eat their prey

Where did the Big Bang take place? Is it now at the center of the universe? 

Where Did the Big Bang Happen? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Aside from his bright blue shell, Neptune is an otherwise normal lobster.

See the Rare ‘Electric Blue’ Lobster Found Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Meet Neptune, an American lobster with a vibrantly colored shell that results from a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation

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

Arborists scaled the tree to douse the final flames on August 21.

World’s Tallest Douglas Fir Tree Damaged in Mysterious, Multi-Day Blaze, but It’s Alive After Firefighters Extinguish Flames

The fire started burning on August 16 and only affected a single tree—the historic Doerner Fir in southern Oregon. Authorities are still investigating the cause

Scientists are eager to figure out why lead doesn't seem to affect brown anoles.

These Lizards Have So Much Lead in Their Blood, They Should Be Dead. Instead, They’re Thriving

Brown anoles around New Orleans have the highest blood concentrations of lead ever recorded in vertebrates—and scientists aren’t sure why they can survive it

The American robin was among the birds most affected by light pollution.

Light Pollution Is Making Days Longer for Birds, Extending the Hours When They’ll Sing

A new study looked at millions of recordings of birdsong and found that some species in areas with more light pollution are active for almost an hour longer than average

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