Animals

DOC ranger Jim Fyfe and Māori ranger Tūmai Cassidy walk alongside a cetacean, thought to be a rare spade-toothed whale, being transported by Trevor King Earthmoving.

The World's Rarest Whale May Have Just Washed Ashore in New Zealand

No one has ever recorded a live sighting of the spade-toothed whale, but experts say the dolphin-like creature found earlier this month is "no doubt" a member of the elusive species

Baby beluga whales and adults alike spend the summer in the Churchill River.

Watch Chatty Beluga Families Migrate With These Stunning Live Cams in Canada

Polar Bears International and Explore.org are once again capturing video footage and audio recordings of the social marine mammals as tens of thousands congregate in the Churchill River this summer

Some historians have suggested the giant turtle reported in 1948 was an alligator snapping turtle, pictured here. Other experts disagree with this theory.

Could Citizens of This Indiana Town Have Seen a 500-Pound Turtle?

Two men said they saw such an animal, dubbed the Beast of Busco, in 1948

American oystercatchers use their orange bills to pry open shellfish.

Nesting Shorebirds Are Mobbing Drones on New York City Beaches

The drones, equipped with inflatable life rafts, were intended to help improve public safety for humans this summer—but they're also upsetting orange-beaked birds called American oystercatchers

Museum officials hope to pass along cheesemaking traditions to younger generations.

You Can Now Visit France's First-Ever Cheese Museum

The Musée du Fromage in Paris hosts tastings and teaches visitors about traditional cheesemaking practices

A damselfly covered with drops of dew sits on a leaf in this close-up photo.

See Ten Creepy-Crawly Portraits From the Insect Week Photography Contest

The Royal Entomological Society’s Photography Competition highlights the wonder and diversity of the six-legged creatures that crawl, swim and fly across the planet

Asteroid impacts and volcanism have led to mass extinctions on our planet.

Has Life on Earth Survived More Than Five Mass Extinctions?

Scientists aren’t just arguing whether humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event now, but whether many more occurred in the past

The Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan is one of the few animals that spends its entire life at high elevations.

Meet the Rare, 'Beautiful' Birds That Thrive in Snow and Are at Risk Because of Climate Change

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan as threatened under the Endangered Species Act this month

For some animals, romance goes more smoothly when it comes with gifts.

When It Comes to Romantic Gift-Giving, Humans Aren’t Alone. Snails, Birds and Flies All Woo Each Other With Presents

Throughout the animal kingdom, sweethearts bestow offerings with their amorous advances

Ranchers and landowners consider dingoes pests, while conservationists say they are vitally important to Australia's ecosystem.

Ancient DNA Unravels the Mysteries of the Dingo, Australia's Wild Dog

Researchers dove into thousands of years of evolutionary history, revealing new insights about the iconic, though sometimes vilified, canines

Winged Life Winner

View 11 Breathtaking Images From the BigPicture Photography Competition

This 2024 showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places

A popular display in the Whatcom Museum’s Hall of Birds features several owls.

Meet the Taxidermists Who Care for the Animals at Your Favorite Museums

Only a few U.S. museums still employ the specialists. The rest rely on a small group of highly skilled contractors

In a still from a video, an ant at the bottom of the image bites off the leg of a wounded ant with a purple marker on its back.

Carpenter Ants Perform Life-Saving Amputations to Treat Leg Injuries

A new study provides the first evidence of non-human animals performing amputations on others to improve their odds of survival

A ctenophore, or comb jelly, swims in waters near New Zealand.

How Deep-Sea Comb Jellies Hold Their Shape Under Crushing Pressure

The delicate sea creatures fall apart when brought to the surface but can survive miles deep in the ocean due to special cell wall structures, according to a new study

A baby musk ox stands with an adult in the Arctic.

The Quest to Resurrect a Lost Ecosystem in Siberia

A father-and-son team of scientists are trying to revive ancient grasslands by reintroducing large grazers

At the beginning of June, aquarium officials announced Charlotte was no longer pregnant due to a reproductive disease.

Charlotte the 'Pregnant Virgin' Stingray Dies After Diagnosis of Reproductive Disease

The animal drew attention earlier this year for becoming pregnant despite having no male ray in her tank

Yun Chuan is "serious about his bamboo but mild-mannered toward others," according to the San Diego Zoo.

Two Pandas Arrive at the San Diego Zoo, the First to Enter the U.S. in 21 Years

For months, the only pandas in the country had been in Atlanta. Next, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are expected to also receive pandas this year

An artist's rendition of the volcanic eruption that preserved several trilobite fossils in ash more than 500 million years ago.

Volcanic Ash Preserved Trilobite Fossils in Surprising Detail at 'Prehistoric Pompeii'

The specimens date to more than 500 million years ago and provide new insights into trilobite anatomy, revealing previously unseen features

Tusks and other fossilized remains are all that's left of the woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island thousands of years ago.

What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn't Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world's last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island

The frog saunas are easy to make and cost around $50 to put together.

'Frog Saunas' May Be the Key to Saving Amphibians From a Deadly Fungal Infection

Providing frogs with sun-warmed bricks inside mini-greenhouses can help them recover from chytrid and make them more resilient against the disease in the future, a new study finds

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