Nature

In a world first, a megamouth shark has been seen pregnant. A female of this super rare, deepwater species was found washed up on a beach in the Philippines last month. Unfortunately the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) had to die for us to see this, with one dead young shark found next to her and

De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni) was feared extinct for almost a century. But with the help of a canine friend scientists have rediscovered them on the west coast of South Africa for the first time since 1936. “The amazing part for me is that it’s been there all this time, and nobody knew,” says

EMBARGO Wednesday 6 December 1101 AEDT It takes locusts shockingly little time to adjust to a change in gravity conditions. Scientists put a whole bunch of the insects in a device that simulates extra gravity, and observed that their exoskeletons and legs got stronger in just a few short weeks. Only up to a point,

In October, a great white shark washed up on a beach in southern Australia with its insides conspicuously missing. Large chunks of flesh had been violently ripped from its trunk, but the head, tail, and fins appeared untouched. Scientists can now confirm what they suspected at the time: that orcas were behind the slaughter of

Researchers have been taking a closer look at some bird-like footprint fossils in Africa, stretching back some 210 million years. These footprints are something of a mystery: fossils for even the earliest bird ancestors don’t show up for another 60 million years. These footprints have been known about for many years, but here a team

Vampire bats have a history of expanding their range as climates change, researchers report in a new study, supporting concerns about further northward expansion due to human-induced global warming. The findings suggest warming climates in southern regions of the US may soon lure vampire bats to move in, some potentially carrying diseases like rabies that

Plants, animals, and many fungi typically grow through the process of binary fission, a form of asexual reproduction that allows a cell to divide, multiply, and produce new cells that are specialized for certain activities. Not all macrosopic organisms play by the rulebook, though. A number of large seaweeds, like the leafy green algae Caulerpa,

In humans, nodding off for a few seconds is a clear sign of insufficient sleep – and can be dangerous in some situations, such as when driving a car. ​But a new study published on Thursday finds chinstrap penguins snooze thousands of times per day, accumulating their daily sleep requirement of more than 11 hours

There’s a marked difference between how quickly mammals (including ourselves) age and how quickly many species of reptiles and amphibians do. This discrepancy, one scientist proposes, could be due to the dominance of dinosaurs millions of years ago, during a critical period of mammalian history. Microbiologist João Pedro de Magalhães from the University of Birmingham

One of the most well-studied marine mammals in the world has been secretly harboring a superpower sixth sense. Two captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have now proved to researchers at the University of Rostock and Nuremberg Zoo in Germany that they can reliably sense weak electric fields in the water with their long snouts. The

If it were not for the traditional custodians of an old-growth forest in the Solomon Islands, scientists may have never caught a glimpse of it: a rodent species of unusual size, quietly living in the trees and crunching through coconuts with its giant, sharp teeth. Measuring roughly the length of a newborn baby and weighing

A herd of elephants in Malaysia smashed up a car after it struck one of their babies on Sunday night. That (frankly understandable) response shows how the highly emotional animals will do anything to protect their own, an elephant advocate said. “If you put yourself in their position, if your kid was hit by a

A BBC report about a cruise passenger who said that he was bitten by a wolf spider, which then laid eggs inside his toe, went viral on Monday. But the story has attracted criticism from experts, who say it doesn’t add up. The BBC reported that a cruise ship passenger named Colin Blake received medical

The Earth’s magnetic field plays a big role in protecting people from hazardous radiation and geomagnetic activity that could affect satellite communication and the operation of power grids. And it moves. Scientists have studied and tracked the motion of the magnetic poles for centuries. The historical movement of these poles indicates a change in the

Honeybees in man-made hives may have been suffering the cold unnecessarily for over a century because commercial hive designs are based on erroneous science, my new research shows. For 119 years, a belief that the way honeybees cluster together gives them a kind of evolutionary insulation has been fundamental for beekeeping practice, hive design and

The extraordinary capacity for the brain to rewire itself after a stroke, an amputation, or sudden loss of vision or hearing has been shown repeatedly in studies over decades. At least, that’s what we all thought. Now, writing in eLife, two neuroscientists – Tamar Makin and John Krakauer – argue that the most influential experiments

One of the rarest mammals in the world, a black rhino, was just born in broad daylight at a zoo in England, and the footage is breathtaking. For such a large newborn, the female calf landed on the soft, sandy floor of its enclosure with surprising aplomb. In a recent press release, zookeepers at Chester

Four gargantuan undersea sediment deposits – or ‘megabeds’ – discovered in the western Marsili Basin near Italy show evidence of a series of supereruptions stretching back some 50,000 years, suggesting another one could be on the way. A team from Ohio State University in the US and the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) in Spain

Evolution is unfolding all around us as species tussle to survive or find ways to coexist, but it’s still a relatively rare privilege to stumble across examples of life in the wild adapting right before our eyes. So you can imagine researchers’ surprise when they realized a genus of fungi appears to be straddling the

A single-celled organism with no brain or nervous system to speak of may still form memories and pass those memories on to future generations, according to new research. The ubiquitous bacterium, Escherichia coli, is one of the most well-studied life forms on Earth, and yet scientists are still discovering unexpected ways that it survives and

Underwater cameras have captured a unique dolphin behavior off the coast of Western Australia in what scientists suspect is a world-first. For decades now, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and local crabbers in the Bunbury area, roughly 160 kilometers south of Perth, have been locked in a battle over bait. When a crab pot is dropped

A common, widespread fungus that’s probably hiding in your garden soil right this moment is capable of transforming into a formidable predator when it gets too hungry. Scientists have known about the hunting abilities of Arthrobotrys oligospora since at least the 1980s, but they’re still in the process of figuring out exactly how this otherwise

The Great Sand Sea Desert stretches over an area of 72,000km² linking Egypt and Libya. If you find yourself in a particular part of the desert in south-east Libya and south-western parts of Egypt, you’ll spot pieces of yellow glass scattered across the sandy landscape. It was first described in a scientific paper in 1933

Scientists have solved the mystery of one of the animal kingdom’s most disproportionately large penises thanks to a Dutch retiree recording bat sex in a church attic. The serotine bat does not use its strangely large penis for penetration, but instead as a “copulatory arm” during mating, a European team of researchers said on Monday.

Water from Earth’s surface can find its way deep into the planet, and new research explains how it changes the outermost region of the metallic liquid core. The finding could explain the presence of a thin layer of material inside the planet that has mystified geologists for decades. Earth’s crust is composed of tectonic plates

Close to the summit of an underwater mountain west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a jagged landscape of towers rises from the gloom. Their creamy carbonate walls and columns appear ghostly blue in the light of a remotely operated vehicle sent to explore. They range in height from tiny stacks the size of toadstools to a

Scientists at the University of California Davis are sniffing out the complex communication behind animal scent, beginning with the butts of domestic cats. By analyzing the anal gland secretions of 23 pet cat ‘participants’ from the UCD veterinary medical teaching hospital, the team of researchers has shown a correlation between some types of bacteria and

North America may still be trembling with the aftershocks of two major earthquakes that struck the continent more than a century ago, according to new research. If the statistical inferences that scientists have made are correct, then that means some tremors of today were set in motion way back in the 1800s, after some of

Before ancient Egyptians refined the Great Sphinx of Giza, natural forces may have helped carve the iconic monument’s massive feline shape out of a single mass of limestone. Fluid dynamics experiments reveal the structure’s ‘reclined lion’ shape could have been carved not by human hands, but fast-flowing wind. “Our findings offer a possible ‘origin story’

Beachgoers at Bingil Bay on the east coast of Australia got a shock on Halloween as an ominous, dark shape splashed about in the water. Onlookers initially thought it was a shark’s fin or perhaps a turtle. But as the creature emerged it became clear it was something else entirely: a young cassowary, widely known

Down the deep and dark passageways of Mexico’s mysterious underwater labyrinth, known for preserving incredible Maya relics, dwells a staggering wealth of microbial life. For the first time, researchers have sampled some of the more inaccessible extremes of these mapped cave systems, which cover 1,500 kilometers (932 miles). They found thriving microbial metropolises within the

How did life begin? How did chemical reactions on the early Earth create complex, self-replicating structures that developed into living things as we know them? According to one school of thought, before the current era of DNA-based life, there was a kind of molecule called RNA (or ribonucleic acid). RNA – which is still a

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna has been feared extinct for over 60 years, but researchers just provided video evidence that this bizarre egg-laying mammal is still alive in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains, known to locals as Dafonsoro or Dobonsolo. The international team of researchers was euphoric at the sight of the small, spiked, and fuzzy mammal wobbling awkwardly

Back in 2021, a test of cephalopod smarts reinforced how important it is for us humans to not underestimate animal intelligence. Cuttlefish were given a new version of the marshmallow test, and the results may demonstrate that there’s more going on in their strange little brains than we knew. Their ability to learn and adapt,

All the way back in 1879, botanist William Beal of Michigan State University (MSU) buried 20 bottles to start an experiment on seed longevity. More than 140 years later, some of the seeds from the latest bottle to be dug up have been germinating. In a new study, researchers from MSU evaluated the genomes of

We all had to make adjustments as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded – even zoo animals who were suddenly not seeing crowds of visitors pass by every single day. In a study published last year, researchers discovered how primates reacted to that shift, looking at the behavior of bonobos, chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas, and olive baboons,

A town in Iceland, home to 4,000 people, could be devastated by an imminent volcanic eruption, experts said. Grindavik, which is close to the capital Reykjavik, could sustain heavy damage within hours or days, per The Guardian. “The magma is now at a very shallow depth, so we’re expecting an eruption within a couple of

A mysterious primate appeared in North America 30 million years ago, long after the continent’s native primates had died out, and even longer before the next big influx of primates – humans – would arrive. This lemur-like species, named Ekgmowechashala, has long puzzled paleontologists. Was it the last holdout of North American primates, or did

In the last 260 million years, dinosaurs came and went, Pangea split into the continents and islands we see today, and humans have quickly and irreversibly changed the world we live in. But through all of that, it seems Earth has been keeping time. Research into ancient geological events suggests that our planet has a

Yet another phoenix-like island has risen from the volcanic ashes of the Ring of Fire – this time off the coast of Japan’s Ogasawara Islands, a far-flung archipelago also known as the Bonin Islands. The fresh new land mass in the Pacific Ocean is the youngest of all its neighbors and was born from an

The continent of Argoland, which seemingly vanished after splitting from Australia 155 million years ago, has finally been discovered, according to a new study. Continental splits usually leave traces in ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges. But up until now, scientists had been unable to find where Argoland had ended up. Now researchers at Utrecht

Through a detailed analysis of the complete genomes of five cat species, researchers have been able to resolve some long-standing mysteries about the evolution of these animals – giving us a much better understanding of how different species developed. The international team of researchers looked at species including domestic cats, lions, and tigers, and used

Rats use their imaginations in a similar way to humans, a new study shows – meaning their thoughts aren’t always fixed on what’s immediately in front of them, but can also travel in space and time. It’s something that we do naturally, transporting ourselves to other places, recalling past events, or visualizing future scenarios in

Strip life down to its simplest components, you’re left with fragments of genes and proteins that rely on the cellular machinery of host organisms to reproduce – elements we call viruses. As if to prove there is no honor among even the smallest of thieves, some virus-like entities known as mobile genetic elements (MGEs) can

When racing season arrives, everyone becomes an expert on the horses that are the stars of the spectacle. TV personalities, professional pundits and form guides talk confidently about the favorite’s “will to win“. In close races, the equine contestants “battle it out“, demonstrating “heart”, “grit” and “determination”. But do horses even know they are in

Cat owners who overfeed their pets risk unwittingly causing harm to their furry pals. Overeating causes weight gain, but a new study found it can also reduce the cat’s nutrient digestion and cause changes in their gut microbiota. The finding supports advice that pet owners should restrict feeding and encourage their feline companions to undertake

Puppy dog eyes might exist to tug on our heartstrings, but a new study suggests cats may have also evolved quite a few facial expressions under our care. When researchers in the US analyzed the after-hours footage of a cat cafe in Los Angeles, they counted up to 276 distinct facial expressions made by domestic

In Paris in the 1930s, letters and small parcels could be delivered via an elaborate network of underground pneumatic tubes that interlaced the city. Cells inside living fish embryos have been spotted doing a similar thing on a micro-scale. In a study made available on the pre- peer review archive bioRxiv, researchers in France witnessed