Animals
6 Weird and Wild Animal Behaviors Revealed in 2022
Octopus outbursts, spiders evading sexual cannibalism and a human-cockatoo arms race—here are strange animal behaviors we learned about in 2022
Animals255 articles archived since 1845
Animals
‘Chatty Turtles’ Flip the Script on the Evolutionary Origins of Vocalization in Animals
Recordings of more than 50 species of turtles and other animals help scientists reassess the origins of acoustic communication in vertebrates.
Animals
Ants Can Produce Milk for Their Young (and Old)
A nutritious fluid secreted by pupating ants helps to feed the rest of the colony and could play a part in the evolution of social structures
Animals
Tardrigrades, an Unlikely Sleeping Beauty
Researchers put this ancient critter through a subzero gauntlet to learn more about what happens to their internal clock while surviving the extreme.
Animals
‘Mind Control’ Parasite Makes Wolves Effective Pack Leaders
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii can change the behavior of infected wolves in ways that make them more likely to be pack leaders
Animals
Dolphins Whistle Their Names with Complex, Expressive Patterns
A new study quantifies how dolphins vary their “signature whistles”
Animals
What Makes Animals Cannibals?
Cannibals start munching as animal populations grow
Animals
A Honeybee Swarm Has as Much Electric Charge as a Thundercloud
New research shows that bees “buzz” in more than the way you might think.
Animals
These Punk Rock Penguins Have a Bizarre Breeding Strategy
New Zealand’s erect-crested penguin lays two eggs but rejects the first one—the opposite of how most birds prioritize their offspring.
Animals
Watch Octopuses Throw Things at Each Other
Cephalopods living unusually close together have been filmed throwing shells, algae and silt—sometimes at another octopus
Animals
Crows Perform Yet Another Skill Once Thought Distinctively Human
Scientists demonstrate that crows are capable of recursion—a key feature in grammar. Not everyone is convinced
Animals
This Lemur’s Creepily Long Finger Is Perfect for Nose Picking
Aye-ayes use their long middle finger to pick their nose, a first for this lemur species. But scientists aren’t sure why these animals picked up the habit
Animals
Researchers Are Making Nightmarish ‘Coffee’ with Invasive Sea Lampreys
Why on earth would you try to “brew” anything using parasitic fish that slurp the blood and guts out of other fish?
Animals
Ball-Rolling Bumble Bees Just Wanna Have Fun
Tiny, soccer-playing bees raise questions about the inner lives of invertebrates
Animals
These Hawks Have Figured Out How to See the Bat in the Swarm
New research shows that birds of prey attempting to grab a bat from a roiling mass of the flying mammals have developed a way to cope with the confusion.
Animals
Heaviest Bony Fish Ever Measured Is a Wheel-Shaped Behemoth
A sunfish found near the Azores breaks the 26-year-old record for the heftiest bony fish ever measured
Animals
Some People Really Are Mosquito Magnets, and They’re Stuck That Way
Certain compounds in our skin determine how much we attract mosquitoes, new research suggests—and those compounds don’t change much over time
Climate Change
Mountain Goats Battle Bighorn Sheep over Climate-Limited Resources
Climate change may be leading to strange hostilities between different animal species over limited resources
Biotech
‘Devilfish’ Could Help Treat Wastewater from Ceramics
Invasive suckermouths can be transformed into an industrial water cleaner
Animals
How to Tell if Your Cat Loves You, According to Science
The secret of whether your cat feels bonded to you lies in behavioral signals they would show to feline friends
