Mammals

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

Scientists believe the mammoth was so well-preserved because of the dry, cold climate in Siberia.

3D DNA Preserved for 52,000 Years in Freeze-Dried Woolly Mammoth Remains

For the first time, researchers have mapped ancient genetic material in unprecedented detail

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

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The Wild Story of What Happened to Pablo Escobar’s Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Ever since the demise of infamous drug kingpin, his pet hippos have flourished, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem and terrorizing local communities

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 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

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

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

Spinner dolphins swim in the Red Sea. Research has shown some dolphins are shy, while others are extroverted.

Five Amazing Dolphin Behaviors, Explained

From calling each other by name to using tools, these social creatures are a lot like us

A hippo crosses a rural road near Doradal, Colombia. Experts say that left unchecked the hippo population could grow to 1,400 by 2040.

Pablo Escobar’s Abandoned Hippos Are Wreaking Havoc in the Colombian Jungle

Decades ago, the drug baron smuggled the beasts into South America for his private menagerie. They’ve been multiplying ever since. Now officials are taking extreme measures to counter the problem

The two Hudson Bay polar bear groups are often considered indicators of how the 17 other polar bear subpopulations will fare in the future.

Time Is Running Out for the Hudson Bay Polar Bears

The southern and western subpopulations are on track to disappear as sea ice becomes too thin amid rising global temperatures

The white bison calf and its mother were spotted in Yellowstone National Park.

Rare White Bison Calf Born at Yellowstone National Park

A photographer spotted the calf on June 4. White buffalo are sacred to some Native American tribes, and the birth has been called a "blessing and a warning"

Newly examined fossils suggest monotremes—egg-laying mammals—were once much more abundant in Australia than they are today.

Meet the 'Echidnapus,' an Extinct Creature That Resembles Both the Echidna and Platypus of Today

The species is among three newly identified monotremes, or egg-laying mammals, discovered from fossils in Australia that are shedding light on the odd animals' evolution

An endangered Przewalski's horse is released into the Altyn Dala "Golden Steppe" in central Kazakhstan.

Endangered Wild Horses Return to Kazakhstan for the First Time in at Least 200 Years

The international effort, led by the Prague Zoo, released seven Przewalski’s horses to their native steppe habitat in central Asia

Elephants at Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, on May 3, 2024. Elephants use low, rumbling vocalizations to call to others and while caring for their young.

African Elephants May Call Each Other by Name

In a new study, a computer model was able to identify the recipient of an elephant's call more than a quarter of the time, which scientists say is significantly greater than chance

Wombats are stocky marsupials that can weigh up to 85 pounds.

Don't Call Wombats Heroes, but Their Burrows Do Provide Food, Water and Shelter for Other Animals

During Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2019 and 2020, misinformation spread about wombats welcoming animals into their underground homes—but a new study finds a kernel of truth in the viral story

One of the new benthic landers is lowered into the Gulf of Mexico via a system of winches and safety lines. Once released, the autonomous platform sinks at a carefully calculated rate until it lands on the seafloor.

These Innovative Landers Will Examine Coral Reefs in the Gulf of Mexico

Scientists plan to use what they learn to help restore communities harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

This fossilized Buronius tooth is roughly a third of an inch long.

Do These Fossilized Teeth Belong to the World’s Smallest Great Ape?

Researchers say two teeth and a kneecap belong to a previously unknown species that lived in what is now Germany

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