Animals

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A kangaroo stands chest-deep in water.
Kangaroos might try to drown your dog. Here's why. Footage of a kangaroo attempting to drown a dog in a river in Australia went viral online, but this isn't the first time a marsupial has pulled this trick.
An orca attacks a whale, which is gushing blood from its mouth.
Orcas are learning terrifying new behaviors. Are they getting smarter? From sinking boats and feasting on shark livers to dining on whale tongue and tossing porpoises around for fun, orcas are displaying some fascinating — and sometimes terrifying — behaviors.
Monkey looks at himself in a handheld mirror
Which animals can recognize themselves in the mirror? Research on whether animals can recognize themselves in the mirror began in 1970 1 and just a handful of species have since passed the test ever since.

Latest about Animals

Megapod group of dolphins swim in the ocean.

Watch a huge megapod of acrobatic spinner dolphins in incredible, rare video

By Hannah Osborne published

A megapod of dolphins with thousands of individuals has been captured on video hunting flying fish off the coast of Costa Rica.

Dolphins
a wolf spider lookin at the camera with spider babies on her head

Wolf spider mama wearing crown of babies captured in stunning photo

By Hannah Osborne published

Winning images from The Nature Conservancy's 2023 Global Photo Contest include a wolf spider in a Maryland park with a hat made of her own babies.

Spiders
Monkey looks at himself in a handheld mirror

Which animals can recognize themselves in the mirror?

By Richard Pallardy published

Research on whether animals can recognize themselves in the mirror began in 1970 1 and just a handful of species have since passed the test ever since.

Animals
photo shows a rat in the center of an area with images projected on its walls. The rat is hooked up to an apparatus that's suspended above its head

Can rats 'imagine'? Rodents show signs of imagination while playing VR games

By Kamal Nahas published

Rats immersed in a VR world played games that could be won only by using imaginative route planning, scientists report.

Land Mammals
Close up image of a goosefishes round face, pointed lure, marble eyes and speckled skin

Watch this monstrous 'sea devil' goosefish walk along the bottom of the ocean off the Galapagos Islands

By Elise Poore published

Footage filmed 1,225 feet beneath the ocean surface shows a goosefish strolling along the seafloor before turning its bulbous head and bulging eyes straight at the camera.

Animals
A reconstruction of the biting structures of two newfound lamprey species.

Flesh-eating 'killer' lampreys that lived 160 million years ago unearthed in China

By Sascha Pare published

Scientists have described two lamprey fossils with "extensively toothed" mouths from the Jurassic period, shining a light on how this group has evolved into its modern forms since the Devonian.

Extinct Species
Jumping spider on the underside of a leaf with cordyceps fungus stalks growing out of its back

These 6 images show the moment when parasites burst from their hosts — and they're scary

By Elise Poore published

Watch as these gruesome parasites emerge from their hosts.

Animals
crow perched on the right side of a gravestone shaped like a cross

7 creatures associated with death

By Elise Poore published

From bats to hornbills, here are some animals that have historically been associated with death.

Animals
A grid showing the faces of multiple cats

Cats have nearly 300 facial expressions, including a 'play face' they share with humans

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

Researchers recorded hundreds of facial expressions in cats, finding they're not quite as aloof as previously thought.

Cats
a mammoth tusk in a shallow stream with mountains in the background

Girl discovers 100,000-year-old mammoth bones in Russian river while fishing with dad

By Richard Pallardy published

An 8-year-old girl discovered the bones of a woolly mammoth and a prehistoric bison after a landslide along the banks of a river in western Russia.

Extinct Species
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