Pikas eat yak poop to help them survive winters at high altitudes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in Asia.

Giant sharks have been lurking in the ocean for millions of years. Here are eight of the biggest sharks from the past and present.

Humans are slow and weak compared with bears, pumas and other large predators, but these beasts usually avoid us. Why don't these animals try to eat us more often?

Biologists recently caught a 7-foot-long sturgeon in the U.S. but there are much bigger fish lurking in Earth's rivers. What's the biggest freshwater fish in the world?

There are many ways the world could end, from all-out nuclear war to a giant asteroid strike. How many people would need to survive such an apocalypse for humans to avoid extinction?

The animal kingdom is filled with stretchy mouths, from hamster cheeks to blue whale pleats, but which animal has the stretchiest mouth of all?

Coyotes originated in prairies and deserts, but are now right at home in big cities across North America. How did this naturally shy creature learn to thrive in crowded urban landscapes?

Meerkats and penguins living in zoos had different reactions to the return of visitors after COVID-19 restrictions left them alone in empty parks with only zookeepers for company.

Scientists have identified the earliest primates from tiny fossilized teeth, revealing that our ancient ancestors likely lived alongside the dinosaurs in North America.

A new study reveals pirate attacks are more common in waters experiencing destructive and illegal fishing, suggesting the two may be linked.

Here's why February's full moon is sometimes called the "Snow Moon" and how to watch it and other celestial events this weekend.

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.

Researchers have successfully achieved real-time communication with a sleeping person by invading their dreams in several independent experiments.

An 'ice volcano' has formed above a hot spring in the Almaty region of southeastern Kazakhstan. What is causing this unusual phenomenon?

Bone fragments long thought to have come from St. James the Younger, one of the 12 apostles who may have been Jesus' brother, couldn't have come from him, a new study finds.