Animals
Adorable Moth-Size Bats Found in the Pacific Islands’ Largest Bat Cave
An expedition has discovered a remote Fijian cave with thousands of microbats thought to be nearly extinct
Animals248 articles archived since 1845
Animals
Migratory Birds Are in Peril, but Knowing Where They Are at Night Could Help Save Them
Light is a very dangerous, if not so obvious, threat to birds who migrate at night. But researchers are using weather radar to track birds and provide “lights out” forecasts to help keep their paths clear of visual distraction...
Animals
Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Us ‘See’ Some of the Billions of Birds Migrating at Night
Science is turning to machines to unlock the secrets of the vast, mysterious pulse-of-the-planet phenomenon that is nocturnal migration.
Animals
The Hot Secret behind a Deep-Sea ‘Octopus Garden’
Thousands of usually solitary octopuses gather to brood eggs in a special spot off California
Animals
Here’s How You Go Birding in the Middle of the Night
If you really want to challenging your bird identification skills, try using them at night, when bird calls are less than 100 milliseconds long.
Animals
How a Color-Changing Hogfish Knows whether Its Skin Is White, Brown or Polka-Dotted
A hogfish may provide the first example of a vertebrate with specialized light-detecting cells that reside outside the central nervous system
Animals
Can Dogs Use Language?
The “button dogs” of TikTok seem to be learning human words. What’s really going on?
Animals
Using Human-Sized Microphones and Hay Bales, They Unlocked the Mysteries of Bird Migration
For thousands of years, no one truly knew how birds migrated—that is, until a few unlikely pioneers sat in an empty field with hundreds of pounds of kludged together recording gear and waited to hear sounds that no one had ever captured...
Animals
The Fast, Furious and Brutally Short Life of an African Male Lion
From the moment a male lion is born it faces a gauntlet of challenges, ranging from snakebite to infanticide
Animals
They Tap Into the Magical, Hidden Pulse of the Planet, but What is the Nighttime Bird Surveillance Network?
On any given night, dense clouds of dark, ghostly figures pass over your head as you sleep. Maybe you never knew they were there, but there are people out there who are deciphering all the unseen movement that happens amid the darkness...
Ecology
Strange Ecosystem Found Thriving below Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
An expedition using a deep-sea remotely operated vehicle has uncovered a hidden underground ecosystem below hydrothermal vents on the seafloor
Animals
‘Virgin Birth’ Engineered into Female Animals for First Time
Scientists altered the genomes of female fruit flies, allowing them to reproduce without any contribution from a male
Animals
These Salamanders Steal Genes and Can Have up to Five Extra Sets of Chromosomes
Unisexual salamanders in the genus Ambystoma appear to be the only creatures in the world that reproduce the way they do. Researchers know how, but the why is still being figured out...
Animals
Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Head to the Side?
The attentive and endearing doggy head tilt might indicate your pup is trying to process what you’re saying
Animals
Are ‘Cocaine Sharks’ Really Scarfing Down Drugs off Florida’s Coasts?
With their stealth, speed and serrated teeth, sharks are predators to be reckoned with. And that’s before factoring in the cocaine some sharks may be eating...
Animals
Cities Use Spikes to Keep Birds Away. Birds Are Using Them in Nests
Researchers across Europe have found bizarre nests bristling with the sharp metal stakes cities use to repel birds
Animals
Dolphins and Whales Will Never Evolve Back into Land Animals
Scientists have discovered that once mammals, such as dolphins or orcas, have become fully aquatic, they pass a threshold that makes a return to terrestrial landscapes almost impossible...
Animals
Elephants’ Giant Hot Testicles Might Be the Reason They Get Less Cancer
A scientist claims elephants’ cancer-preventing genes may have evolved to protect their sperm from the scorching hot habitats the pachyderms’ live in...
Animals
This Seabird Courtship Ritual Is the Romance of the Summer
An adorable seabird courtship ritual shows the meaning of love: fish
Ecology
Watch Baby Octopuses Hatch from a Surprising Deep-Sea Nursery
Elated researchers watched baby octopuses hatch en masse near Pacific Ocean hydrothermal vents
