Animals

Europe's First Dogs Disappeared After Neolithic Farmers Arrived With Their Own Pups

Genetic analysis shows ancient canines from the Near East slowly replaced indigenous dog populations of that period

Hormone signals help ready worker mole-rats to treat pups as their own.

Eating the Queen's Poop Makes Naked Mole-Rats Better Parents

Hive-minded naked mole-rats work together to care for the queen's offspring, and eating her poop gives them hormones to boost nurturing instincts

To Mourn Beloved, 17-Year-Old Cat, Artist Made Genre-Spanning, Star-Studded Tribute Album

Pharrell, Bono, Laurie Anderson, Michael Stipe, The National and others penned songs for Souris, artist Sophie Calle's animal companion

Urban rats appeared to enjoy a steady diet of high-quality food, including protein-rich meat, while rural rats struggled to get by on limited, often meat-free meals

Urban Rats Enjoy Richer, More Reliable Diet Than Their Rural Counterparts

Researchers analyzed the remains of 86 brown rats that roamed Toronto between 1790 and 1890

Asian elephants have less than a 33 percent chance of lasting beyond the 21st century

Earth Lost 2.5 Billion Years’ Worth of Evolutionary History in Just 130,000 Years

Even if humans curbed destructive actions within next 50 years, it would take between five to seven million years for mammal biodiversity to fully recover

Feast your eyes on the blind Somalian cavefish, which has—like mammals—mysteriously lost the ability to use light to fix damaged DNA.

Blind Cavefish Shed Light on the Dark Days of Mammalian Evolution

Like mammals, these cave-dwelling creatures have discarded a solar-powered system that repairs UV-damaged DNA

Scientists used modified egg and stem cells to create female mice with two mothers. These fatherless mice grew up to have babies of their own (through more typical means of conception).

Scientists Break the Rules of Reproduction by Breeding Mice From Single-Sex Parents

By tinkering with the genes of sperm and egg cells, it's possible to breed mice from two females—and even from two males

A blue whale, the largest known creature in Earth's history, dives into the St. Lawrence river in Quebec, Canada.

Today's Whales Are Huge, But Why Aren't They Huger?

Most giant cetaceans only got giant in the past 4.5 million years, suggesting they could have room to grow

Polar bears are shown scavenging on the carcass of a dead bowhead whale that washed ashore on Wrangel Island, Russia.

Polar Bears May Soon Feast on Whale Carcasses. Global Warming is to Blame.

This scavenging strategy saved sleuths of bears in the past, but it’s not sustainable as temperatures climb at unprecedented rates

Forgive us, we're just the messenger: When it comes to animal intelligence, canines are clever, but they're not at the top of the class.

Dogs Are Smart, But Not Exceptional

A new study has found that a host of similar animals match, or even exceed dogs’ intellectual abilities

The intricate network of crevices seen on the African elephant's skin helps it retain moisture and stay cool

How African Elephants Get Their Wrinkles

The animal's crevice-filled skin helps keep it cool and shares a surprising set of similarities with the human skin disease ichthyosis vulgaris

Researchers Studied Cute Pictures of Baby Giraffes to Learn About Their Spots

A new study shows giraffes' iconic puzzle-piece markings aren't random, and the size and shape may help little ones survive their first months of life

Sloths' slow-paced lifestyle is a survival strategy, not a sign of laziness

Sloths Don't Just Live in Slow-Mo, They Can Put Their Metabolism On Pause

Unlike most mammals, sloths don't use vast amounts of energy when it's hot, instead opting to slow down and conserve power, more like birds or reptiles

“It is especially exciting to see Sukiri bonding with and successfully raising these cubs,” says the Zoo's cheetah biologist Adrienne Crosier.

New Cheetah Mom Earns High Marks Caring for Her Three New Smithsonian Cubs

Cubs born to Sukiri on September 22 are latest in the National Zoo’s efforts to diversify gene pool of captive born cheetahs

Mugging for the camera

World's Largest Forest Antelope Photographed in Uganda for First Time

The lowland bongo and other mammal species were recorded during the first camera trap survey of Semuliki National Park

Moths Love Sipping the Salty Tears of Sleeping Birds

A researcher in the Amazon happened up on the rare sight in the dead of night while looking for reptiles and amphibians

Urban cats are more likely to hunt down birds, mice than rats

Cats Are Surprisingly Bad at Killing Rats

Over a 79-day period, feral felines killed just two rats, instead opting to hunt less challenging prey

Bones of the newly described Vorombe titan

Newly Described Elephant Bird Is the Biggest Yet

A new study is bringing long-overdue scientific rigor to the elephant bird’s family tree

Smith spotted the elusive creature while searching for rare flowers in the Wondiwoi mountain range

Elusive Tree Kangaroo Spotted for First Time in 90 Years

An amateur botanist spotted the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo in the remote mountains of West Papua, New Guinea

The dazzling pink and yellow fish is the only member of its genus known to reside in the Atlantic rather than the Pacific

Newly Discovered Neon Fish Species Is Named After Greek Goddess of Love

Researchers were so entranced by the pink and yellow fish that they failed to spot a sixgill shark swimming just above their heads

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