Animals

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An illustration of a tyrannosaurus Rex

Medium-size dinos are missing from the fossil record. Here's why.

By Laura Geggel

Here's why there aren't more medium-size carnivorous dinosaurs.

The head of a Taiwanese kukri snake in Lantau Island, Hong Kong plunges deep into the abdomen of a banded bullfrog.

Snakes insert their heads into living frogs' bodies to swallow their organs (because nature is horrifying)

By Mindy Weisberger

In two new studies, researchers identified more snakes that disembowel frogs to eat their organs, a gruesome habit that was only recently discovered.

A worker at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center cleans a sea turtle on Feb. 21, 2021 after an oil spill occurred off the country's Mediterranean coast.

Why rescuers are feeding turtles mayonnaise after a disastrous oil spill

By Nicoletta Lanese

The condiment helps break down the tar in the turtles' digestive tracts.

A newborn puppy named Skipper was born with six legs.

Puppy born with 6 legs, 2 tails called a 'miracle'

By Rachael Rettner

Despite her rare conditions, Skipper appears healthy and strong.

Seaside sparrow nests that are close to the ground are prone to flooding. But in nests that are higher up, chicks may be vulnerable to terrestrial predators.

Video captures unusual death of baby bird drowned by a fish

By Mindy Weisberger

Scientists recently captured video documenting the first reported instance of a fish preying on a newly-hatched baby bird, in a flooded nest in coastal Georgia.

Springhares, hopping rodents found in parts of Africa, glow pink under UV light.

Weird rodent glows under UV light with disco swirls of pink and orange

By Mindy Weisberger

New research spotlights fluorescence in a jumping rodent known as a springhare.

Several long-finned pilot whales swimming underwater

40 beached whales 'refloated' in New Zealand

By Nicoletta Lanese

Some conservationists are worried that the whales might get stuck on shore again, though.

Black and white video clip of a slime mold consuming nutrients and then spreading to the right of frame

This gooey, brainless blob can store memories

By Nicoletta Lanese

Slime molds imprint "memories" of where they've recently found food.

A humpback whale survived a 4-hour attack by pods of orca.

Humpback whale survives 4-hour attack by gang of orcas

By Stephanie Pappas

Whale watchers in Bermer Bay, Australia witnessed two pods of killer whales trying and failing to kill a young male humpback.

A wildlife photographer captured images of a rare yellow penguin.

There's a rare yellow penguin on South Georgia island, and biologists can't quite explain it

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Black-and-white tuxedos may be the conventional dress code in the penguin world, but one dashing individual is breaking the status quo with an à la mode yellow coat.

To feed, vampire squid drift horizontally in the deep sea with one of their filaments extended.

Vampire squid fossil 'lost' during the Hungarian Revolution rediscovered

By Stephanie Pappas

The ancestors of vampire squid started trawling deep, oxygen-poor waters around 30 million years ago, a long-lost fossil rediscovery reveals.

cold-stunned sea turtles were rescued and dry-docked near South Padre, Texas

Why thousands of turtles were paralyzed off the coast of Texas this week

By Cameron Duke

Here's why thousands of sea turtles were paralyzed in the frigid waters along the Texas coastline during the unprecedented winter storm that swept across the country this week.

Close-up of deer head, the right eye is shown and has a circle of hair covering the cornea

Why a dazed deer in Tennessee had hair growing from its eyeballs

By Nicoletta Lanese

The buck was likely born with the odd condition.

An example of what a complete fish fossil coelacanth looks like.

Great white-shark-sized ancient fish discovered by accident from fossilized lung

By Harry Baker

A 66 million-year-old fossilized lung belonging to a previously unknown giant coelacanth fish was recently discovered in Morocco.

A photograph of the whale calf believed to have been killed, taken while it was still alive with its mother.

Critically endangered baby whale washes up dead on Florida coast

By Patrick Pester

An endangered whale calf has been found dead on a beach in Florida with signs it was hit by a boat. Fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales are left on Earth.

A dog looking at the camera over a seat.

Dogs know where their paws end and the world begins

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Dogs may have self-awareness just like humans.

Elizabeth Ann is the first cloned black-footed ferret and first-ever cloned U.S. endangered species. Above, Elizabeth Ann at 68 days old.

Endangered black-footed ferret cloned for the first time

By Rachael Rettner

The adorable clone, named Elizabeth Ann, was created using cells that were frozen more than three decades ago.

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest species alive today.

Giant 14-foot-long crocodile found with human remains in stomach

By Brandon Specktor

The remains likely belong to a local fisherman who went missing last week, the government said.

An illustration of the steppe mammoths that preceded the woolly mammoth, based on the genetic knowledge from the Adycha mammoth.

Oldest sequenced DNA belonged to 1 million-year-old mystery mammoth

By Laura Geggel

The oldest sequenced DNA on record belongs to a 1.2 million-year-old mammoth.

After unearthing its skeleton, researchers initially thought this horse dated to the last ice age. New analyses showed otherwise.

'Ice age' horse skeleton found in Utah backyard isn't what we thought

By Laura Geggel

The skeletal remains of a horse unearthed in Utah thought to date to the last ice age are actually much younger.