Animals

Conference president Rena Lee of Singapore announces an agreement was reached on Saturday.

Historic Treaty Protects Marine Life in the 'High Seas'

The United Nations agreement will help conserve 30 percent of the planet’s oceans by 2030

Many animals like corals release eggs and sperm into the water on just the right nights of the month.

How Lunar Cycles Guide the Spawning of Sea Creatures

Researchers are starting to understand the biological rhythms that sync worms and corals to phases of the moon

A just-hatched chick stands next to its egg.

Why Newborn Chicks Love Objects That Defy Gravity

A clever new study shows the cute critters will often scuttle toward a video of a rising ball

Studying skeletal remains, researchers identified six criteria that could indicate whether someone rode horses.

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Earliest Known Horseback Riders

New research indicates that humans were riding horses as early as 5,000 years ago

Scientists at North-Eastern Federal University in Russia conducted a necropsy, or animal autopsy, of the bear in late February.

Researchers Examine 3,500-Year-Old Brown Bear Preserved in Siberian Permafrost

Found in 2020, the animal was originally declared to be a cave bear from the Ice Age

Thor rests in Scarborough Harbor in England on December 31, 2022.

The Unusual European Journey of Thor the Walrus

It's rare to see one of these massive marine mammals in Western Europe, but Thor spent several months delighting crowds in multiple countries

Giant lacewings date back to the Jurassic Era and hadn't been seen in eastern North America for more than 50 years, until this discovery.

Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart

The species had not been recorded in eastern North America for more than 50 years—and never documented in the state

After nearly 40 years, desert lions are once again hunting marine prey along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, where scientists believed the knowledge had been lost.

In Namibia, Lions Are King of the Beach

As the big cats return to hunting fur seals on the Skeleton Coast, a new project tries to keep people out of the way

A digital reconstruction of a humpback whale trap feeding, a behavior with striking similarities to the feeding habits of the "hafgufa" described in medieval Norse texts.

These Mythical Sea Monsters May Have Been Whales With Unusual Dining Habits

Tales of creatures like the Norse “hafgufa” suggest ancient and medieval people may have seen whales trap feeding

Snapping shrimp create an air bubble in the water when they clamp their claws shut.

These Young Shrimp Can Snap Their Claws as Fast as a Speeding Bullet

Juvenile snapping shrimp can achieve the fastest acceleration of any repeatable, underwater motion by a living thing, per a new study

Balloons can pollute the oceans, harm wildlife and get tangled in power lines.

Seaside California City Bans Balloons in Public

Laguna Beach has joined several other cities taking aim at ocean pollution, wildlife health, power outages and wildfires

A worker catches chickens at a market in Cambodia, where a girl recently died from avian influenza.

Bird Flu Causes the Death of an 11-Year-Old in Cambodia

A father and daughter both contracted avian influenza, the first cases in the country since 2014

An artist's depiction of Macronectes tinae, a newly identified extinct species of giant petrel that lived in New Zealand.

Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovers New Species of Giant Petrel in New Zealand

The now-extinct birds, which lived roughly three million years ago, likely used their hooked bills to feast on seal carcasses

Emperor penguins rely on sea ice to reproduce and, as a result, are vulnerable to global warming.

Scientists Discover an Emperor Penguin Colony From Poop Stains in Satellite Images

Researchers pinpointed the group of roughly 500 birds in West Antarctica

In a new study, 300 volunteers collected data on almost 700 European hedgehogs across Denmark for research on their lifespan and inbreeding.

World's Oldest European Hedgehog Found by Citizen Scientists

The species faces several threats, but the 16-year-old mammal is “really good news for conservation”

Purple martins perch on a branch in the Brazilian Amazon.

Why Are Purple Martins Declining in the United States?

Mercury contamination in their Amazonian wintering grounds may play a role

The Mexican government has banned shark-related tourism activities, including cage diving, at Guadalupe Island.

Mexico Bans Great White Shark-Related Tourism on Guadalupe Island

The government cited bad practices in the industry as a reason for the ban, which has sparked concerns for the local economy

Whales are tricky to see from a satellite. Belugas, with their light skin standing out against the water, are a bit easier to spot.

Can Satellites Really Detect Whales From Space?

Distant identification of whales is improving rapidly, but finding the behemoth creatures is still surprisingly tricky

Flamingo the king pigeon was rescued from Madison Square Park in New York City on January 30, 2023. 

A Mysterious Pink Pigeon in New York City Has Died

The bird may have been colored as part of a gender reveal

Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl, stands beside a trap with a rat inside. He tried to grab the rat and became briefly snared by the trap's wires, then got free and flew away.

Owl Escapes From Zoo, Becomes a New York Celebrity

A Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco has been on the loose for a week after his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo was vandalized

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