Science & Research
Presents the latest studies, findings, and innovations related to animals, their behavior, cognition, health, and the environment.
A mouth built for efficiency may have helped the earliest bird fly
About 150 million years ago, in a coastal lagoon in what is now southern Germany, the oldest known bird gobbled up food with a beak built for efficient eating.
How tracking golden eagles in Nevada revealed a desert ‘death vortex’
Golden eagles in Nevada are dying at an alarming rate, and no one can pinpoint the cause. Their carcasses litter the landscape in Dry Lake Valley, a bone-white stretch of parched earth north of Las Vegas that was a breeding ground for golden eagles, the largest bird of prey in North America.
Regeneration of fins and limbs relies on a shared cellular playbook
In the 2012 movie The Amazing Spider-Man , a key character regrows his missing arm by imbibing reptilian DNA — but then turns into a monster lizard that Spider-Man must foil.
How elephants pass on crucial survival skills to next generations
Scientists are finding elephant youths respond differently to danger if they grew up without elders. An elephant matriarch leads her group across a river at Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.
Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s only native insect
An international team led by researchers at the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has found that Antarctica's only native insect is already consuming microplastics, despite living in one of the most isolated places on Earth.
Snakes keep evolving into cannibals — here's what scientists think is going on
A review of over 500 reports of cannibalistic behavior in snakes finds it's appeared multiple times in different evolutionary lineages, leading researchers to hypothesize it's beneficial for snakes.
Yellowstone wolves may not have transformed the national park after all
A new scientific review challenges the headline-grabbing claim that Yellowstone’s returning wolves triggered one of the strongest trophic cascades on Earth.
I thought I understood what animal testing meant until I brought home a former lab dog
My dog didn’t know the joy of a toy or how to use a leash until he was six, and it broke my heart.
A mouth built for efficiency may have helped the earliest bird fly
About 150 million years ago, in a coastal lagoon in what is now southern Germany, the oldest known bird gobbled up food with a beak built for efficient eating.
How tracking golden eagles in Nevada revealed a desert ‘death vortex’
Golden eagles in Nevada are dying at an alarming rate, and no one can pinpoint the cause. Their carcasses litter the landscape in Dry Lake Valley, a bone-white stretch of parched earth north of Las Vegas that was a breeding ground for golden eagles, the largest bird of prey in North America.
Regeneration of fins and limbs relies on a shared cellular playbook
In the 2012 movie The Amazing Spider-Man , a key character regrows his missing arm by imbibing reptilian DNA — but then turns into a monster lizard that Spider-Man must foil.
How elephants pass on crucial survival skills to next generations
Scientists are finding elephant youths respond differently to danger if they grew up without elders. An elephant matriarch leads her group across a river at Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.
Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s only native insect
An international team led by researchers at the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has found that Antarctica's only native insect is already consuming microplastics, despite living in one of the most isolated places on Earth.
Snakes keep evolving into cannibals — here's what scientists think is going on
A review of over 500 reports of cannibalistic behavior in snakes finds it's appeared multiple times in different evolutionary lineages, leading researchers to hypothesize it's beneficial for snakes.
Yellowstone wolves may not have transformed the national park after all
A new scientific review challenges the headline-grabbing claim that Yellowstone’s returning wolves triggered one of the strongest trophic cascades on Earth.
I thought I understood what animal testing meant until I brought home a former lab dog
My dog didn’t know the joy of a toy or how to use a leash until he was six, and it broke my heart.
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