Animals

Scientists recorded 50 species of turtles making vocalizations.

Scientists Thought These 53 Species Were Silent. Now, They’ve Recorded Their Sounds

Vocal communication may have evolved from a common ancestor some 407 million years ago

Magic was just another tool in a medieval animal healer's toolbox.

The Veterinary Magic of the Middle Ages

Medieval healers treated animals' ailments with a mix of faith, tradition and science

Honeybees have a very good sense of smell.

Honeybee Swarms Can Produce as Much Electric Charge as a Storm Cloud

Denser swarms create more atmospheric electricity, new research suggests

The centuries-old tradition involves sorting these woolly creatures after a summer of free-grazing on mountain grasses and berries in the highlands.

Iceland's Annual Tradition of Counting Sheep Is Far From Sleepy

Every fall, across the country, farmers and their friends and family gather to sort the ewes and rams that spent the summer free-grazing

Darwin's signature on the note

Charles Darwin's Rare Autographed Manuscript Could Sell for $800,000

The English naturalist was responding to a magazine editor who had asked for a handwriting sample

Previous research has shown that dogs respond to pet-directed speech, but there's less research on cats' responses. 

Cats React to ‘Baby Talk’ From Their Owners, but Not Strangers

New research provides evidence cats see their person as “more than just a food provider”

An artistic rendering of a multituberculate mother with her litter of offspring.

Just Like Us, Jurassic Mammals Cared for Their Young

Clues from bones reveal multituberculates looked after their offspring for lengthy periods during the Age of Dinosaurs

Nat Drummond's surf ski

Shark Attacks Teenager Paddling Off Australian Coast

The shark bit a hole through the boat, but the 19-year-old was unharmed

Streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) sitting on a rock in on Mikura Island in Japan. 

To Survive a Typhoon, Some Seabirds Fly Straight Into It

Streaked shearwaters will face a storm's high winds rather than risk getting blown to land

A mountain lion, P-22, known to live in the Los Angeles area

L.A.'s Cougars Were Driven to Extremes by Wildfire

With less suitable habitat, the big cats traveled further and crossed dangerous roads more often

The giant sunfish found floating near Faial Island in the Azores archipelago

This 6,000-Pound Sunfish Is the Largest Bony Fish on Record

Fishermen and boaters spotted the colossal creature floating near the Azores islands last December

The eastern lowland gorilla saw an estimated 80 percent decline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park between 1994 and 2019. 

Animal Populations Faced a ‘Very Sharp Decline’ Since 1970

World Wildlife Fund researchers say vertebrate populations decreased by 69 percent, on average

Two juvenile gray wolves in Washington

Six Endangered Gray Wolves Were Poisoned in Washington

Conservation groups are offering more than $51,000 for information on the killings

Researchers believe woolly mammoths walked into North America 100,000 years ago.

Alaska Couple Finds Massive Mammoth Bone After Storm

Typhoon Merbok’s flooding and winds revealed the complete femur, lying in the mud

The first juvenile collector urchin (Tripneustes gratilla) raised from a cryopreserved embryo.

A Graduate Student’s Research Could Help Stop the Spread of Invasive Seaweed in Hawai'i

For the first time, using cryopreservation to freeze sea urchin embryos may help restore coral reefs

A golden-winged warbler perches on a branch in Minnesota. The bird’s declining population worries ornithologists.

More Than Half of U.S. Bird Populations Are Shrinking

An alarming report indicates that dozens of species are likely to become federally endangered without preventive action

Amani, the mother, with her two cubs born October 3. 

Two Cheetah Cubs Born at Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute

The twins are an important addition to their vulnerable species and its dwindling gene pool

A pod of killer whales swims together in Chatham Strait, Alaska. 

Video Footage Captures Orcas Killing Great White Sharks

The predation could explain why the sharks have been locally declining in recent years

The Mirage dolphin exhibit in 2000

Three Dolphins Die at the Mirage in Six Months

The Las Vegas hotel and casino temporarily closed its dolphin exhibit after 11-year-old K2 passed last month

A wax worm on a piece of plastic with holes

Wax Worm Saliva Is the Unlikely Hero of Fighting Plastic Waste

Their enzymes can break down plastic in a matter of hours

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