wildlife

Among the entrants in the punishing race on the Yukon River was a kayaking duo from New Zealand known as the Keen Kiwis.

The World’s Most Grueling Race Journeys 1,000 Miles Down the Yukon

In a test of skill and courage, competitors navigate dangerous river rapids, narrow channels and rummaging bears in the wilds of Alaska and Canada

Platypuses are egg-laying mammals with webbed feet and duck-like bills.

Platypuses Return to Australia's Oldest National Park

The egg-laying mammals haven't been seen at the site since the 1970s, but scientists hope the newly released creatures can re-establish a population

An artist's interpretation of what the pendant may have looked like as a necklace

Ancient DNA Reveals Who Wore This 20,000-Year-Old Pendant

Researchers have found a new way to extract human DNA from porous artifacts

Using suction-cup sensors attached to three humpback whales, researchers captured video footage of the animals rolling around on the ocean floor.

Watch Whales Exfoliate Their Skin on the Ocean Floor

Migrating humpbacks used sand and rubble to slough off dead skin and barnacles, a behavior that may be both practical and social

Male California sea lions are polygamous and must fight to defend their territories and their harems.

Why Male California Sea Lions Are Getting Bigger

The “raccoons of the sea” have varied diets, allowing them to grow large to compete for mates

Before they made their big flight to the South Pacific, the snails were adorned with dots of red, UV-reflective paint to help conservationists find them in the dark.

Scientists Reintroduce 5,000 Snails to French Polynesian Islands

The project's organizers say it's the largest-ever release of creatures that are extinct in the wild

California condors are the largest birds in North America.

Twenty Endangered California Condors Die Amid Avian Flu Outbreak

Scientists fear the deaths could set back the slow-breeding birds' recovery by at least a decade

One of the many Edicaran biota fossils within the bounds of Nilpena Ediacara National Park, which is now open in South Australia.

The World's Newest National Park Protects 550-Million-Year-Old Fossils

The 148,000-acre Nilpena Ediacara National Park in South Australia is helping scientists unravel the mysteries of life's evolution on Earth

The lioness, photographed by a trail camera in February, is likely around five years old.

First Lion Spotted in Chad National Park in 20 Years Is 'Beautiful' and 'Healthy'

A trail camera snapped a photograph of the lounging big cat, giving wildlife officials renewed hope about the species' recovery in West and Central Africa

Hawaiian monk seal Kaiwi and her pup lie face-to-face in the sand on Kaimana Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 20.

Newborn Monk Seal Pup and Mother Get 24/7 Police Protection

Wildlife officials closed down a popular Hawaiian beach to protect the pair of endangered mammals

Park-goers hoping to catch a glimpse of the synchronized flashing of fireflies can soon enter a lottery.

How You Can See Tens of Thousands of Fireflies Flash in Unison

The lottery for viewing these bioluminescent bugs at Great Smoky Mountains National Park opens Friday

A drone made from a taxidermy bird.

Scientists Are Making Drones From Taxidermy Birds

They want to use the devices for less disruptive wildlife monitoring and to learn more about avian flight

Ellie, an 11-year-old Goffin’s cockatoo, video chats with a friend.

Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Other—and the Birds Loved It

Wild parrots tend to fly in flocks, but when kept as single pets, they may become lonely and bored

One of the animal coffins, topped with a part-eel, part-cobra, human-headed figure

Lizard Remains Found Inside 2,500-Year-Old Coffins from Ancient Egypt

Researchers at the British Museum used neutron tomography to get a look inside the still-sealed metal boxes without damaging the artifacts

This worm is genetically engineered so some neurons and muscles are fluorescent. Green dots are neurons that respond to cannabinoids, while magenta dots are other neurons.

Tiny Worms Get the Munchies, Too

When dosed with compounds found in cannabis, nematodes eat more and show an even greater preference for their favorite foods

Zooplankton help clean Lake Tahoe by eating tiny particles that can make the water cloudy.

Why Lake Tahoe Is the Clearest It's Been in 40 Years

Thanks to a "natural clean-up crew" of zooplankton, the large freshwater alpine lake is looking especially pristine

The fossil of Icaronycteris gunnelli

Paleontologists Discover 52-Million-Year-Old Bat

The fossil represents the earliest-known species of the flying mammal

A wild Asian elephant in Sri Lanka

Watch This Elephant Peel a Banana With Her Trunk

Pang Pha likely learned to de-skin the yellow fruits while observing her human caretaker in her youth

Now extinct, thylacines are carnivorous marsupials that once roamed freely around Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.

Extinct Tasmanian Tigers May Have Survived Longer Than Previously Thought

Though the last documented thylacine died in 1936, a new study based on alleged sightings suggests the species lived for decades more

Though this particular Arctic ground squirrel died during the Ice Age, these rodents still live in the Yukon Territory and Alaska today.

This Mummified Ice Age Squirrel Was Found Frozen in Canada

Scientists identified the curled-up creature as an Arctic ground squirrel that likely died while hibernating some 30,000 years ago

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