Nature

Fine dust suspended in the atmosphere may have played a significant role in the extinction of dinosaurs after all. It’s largely accepted that around 66 million years ago, a space rock larger than Mount Everest smashed into what is today the coast of Mexico, setting off a cascade of catastrophes that ultimately killed three-quarters of

A new study from researchers at the California Institute of Technology (CIT) suggests the Long Valley Caldera in eastern California is restlessly tossing and turning as its deep magma chamber cools down for a big, long sleep. The last time the volcano blew was roughly 100,000 years ago. Long before that, it spewed up enough

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in the Antarctic region after brown skuas on Bird Island, South Georgia, tested positive for the virus. These are the first identified cases of avian influenza in the Antarctic. Researchers have previously expressed concern about the devastating impact an outbreak could have on many wildlife species in

Humans are outliers for the way many of us, along with a handful of toothed whale species and Asian elephants, will live well beyond our reproductive years. The rarity of menopause among animals has long puzzled researchers, and so has its origins since our close primate relatives didn’t appear to share this marker of fertility’s

Each year, humans worldwide eat over 100 billion bananas, most of which are a type called the Cavendish. But perhaps not for long. A fungal disease threatens to wipe Cavendish bananas off the face of the Earth. Some scientists are genetically modifying the fruit to be more resistant to disease. But the best solution to

We can now hear one of the largest and most ancient living organisms on Earth whisper with the tremble of a million leaves echoing through its roots. The forest made of a single tree known as Pando (“I spread” in Latin) has 47,000 stems (all with the same DNA) sprouting from a shared root system

For years, they sleep. Nestled in shallow burrows a few feet beneath North America’s eastern forests, billions of nymphs belonging to the Magicada genus patiently await a time that’s quite literally prime for their emergence. Come one spring evening, around 13 or 17 years after hatching, the immature insects rise as one in the cool

Gray whales have been washing up dead on the Pacific coast at an alarming rate since 2019, and scientists think they might finally know why. The gray whale strandings from Mexico all the way to Alaska have been declared an “unusual mortality event,” or a significant die-off of a species that is unexplained and requires

How much can the written records of ancient civilisations tell us about the animals they lived alongside? Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think. A much more diverse range of snakes than we’d imagined lived in the land of the pharaohs –

Complex, evolving systems abound in our Universe, even beyond the realms of biology. From the growth of stars to prebiotic chemistry, diverse mixes of materials can often be shaped into far more complex forms. Yet unlike other so many other physical phenomena, their changing nature is yet to be represented by a discrete law. That’s

Researchers looking into the aggressive mating habits of some frogs have discovered that females frequently fake their own deaths to avoid persistent males. This disproves the traditional idea that female frogs passively submit to the desires of their male counterparts during mating season, say the authors of the new study, which focuses specifically on the

You might expect the whirring blades of a helicopter to spark concern or annoyance from animals in the vicinity. But for the reptilian residents of a crocodile farm, a low-flying chopper seemed to signal mating season. “All of the big males got up and roared and bellowed up at the sky, and then after the

Nearly 2,000 years ago, when Rome was at its peak, a volcano erupted on New Zealand’s North Island with such violence it was thought to have cast a pall over the empire’s lands half a world away. Scientists have now unearthed six glass shards traced to the heat of the explosion, flung 5,000 kilometers (3,100

Astronauts need to eat, and they need to breathe. That means, for long-duration missions, they are going to need to bring plants with them. But not all plants are created equal, and not all can survive the harsh conditions of space. One that might thrive on long spacefaring voyages also happens to be the smallest

Details of a 120-million-year-old tectonic plate once a quarter the size of the Pacific have been revealed long after the section of crust was largely subsumed into Earth’s innards. Suzanna van de Lagemaat, a graduate geologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and her supervisor, Douwe van Hinsbergen, deduced the plate’s existence by piecing together

The Carrington Event was a major reality check for a rapidly industrializing humanity. In September 1859, the Sun unleashed an eruption so powerful it sent electrical currents sweeping across Earth’s surface, wiping out telegraph systems around the world, with fires and mayhem. We’ve not seen its like since, but ancient evidence suggests that our Sun

My friend recently changed their favourite celebrity crush from Anna Kendrick toLily James. While some people could see the attraction, others mightnot. So, what is it that attracts us to potential mates? A new study suggests that female animals learn from other females to prefer distinctive males as mates. Sexual selection involves the evolution of

Earth’s solid iron core isn’t all that it seems. In fact, just this year, scientists discovered that our planet’s innermost orb isn’t smooth, but rather textured; and stops spinning every seven decades before changing direction. Now, in another surprising study, a team of researchers think they have figured out why Earth’s solid iron core is

Antarctic octopuses live in the coldest waters in the world, where temperatures peak at 10°C (50°F) and frequently drop to nearly -2°C (28°F). How these ‘cold-blooded’ creatures survive such extremes has been something of a mystery. Oddball octopuses of the genus Pareledone were recently found to use their three hearts to pump a special type

With their bladed paws, wielded by a rippling mass of pure muscle, sharp eyes, agile reflexes, and crushing fanged jaws, lions are certainly not a predator most animals have any interest in messing with. Especially seeing as they also have the smarts to hunt in packs. “Lions are the biggest group-hunting land predator on the

An orca whose eyes were bigger than her belly seems to have choked while gulping down one last, seemingly unusual meal. She was found dead in Russian waters in 2020; a subsequent autopsy revealed that her stomach was full of otters. She’d managed to cram six of the animals in there, whole; but a seventh

If you were to host a blacklight party in the taxidermy wing of a natural history museum, most of the mammals would fit right in with their eerie fluorescent glow. That’s what Kenny Travouillon, the curator of mammalogy at the Western Australian Museum, found when his team shone ultraviolet light on 125 species of mammal

It turns out your cat’s purr is set on autopilot. Researchers have finally discovered the key to these fluff-ball’s signature sound, which involves squishy pads in a cat’s vocal cords. Scientists have puzzled over how cats manage to make their distinctive low-pitched purr, as low frequency sounds are usually made by larger animals with longer

Sexual behavior between members of the same sex might have evolved multiple times in mammals, according to a new study, adding to numerous examples found across the tree of life. More than 1,500 species have been known to engage in same-sex sexual behaviors, including bats, beetles, sea stars, snakes, penguins, cows, fish, and worms. Among

Southern Resident killer whales are highly picky eaters. This beloved and highly endangered population of orca (Orcinus orca) consumes virtually nothing but Chinook salmon, gulping down around two dozen fish a day depending on the season. Unlike their mammal-eating relatives, these predators of fish have no reason to pick on porpoises… And yet, they do.

Making up less than 1 percent of all lightning strikes, superbolts are as rare as they are powerful. Now a new study has revealed more about why these awesome jolts of voltage can pack as much as a thousand times more energy than regular strikes. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and

Incredible though it may seem, a wriggly roundworm with no eyes, no spine, and no brain to speak of may still possess the most basic of animal emotions. In recent research, the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, has shown a persistent negative reaction when given a quick electric zap. For many minutes after receiving the short and

Each human body contains a complex community of trillions of microorganisms that are important for your health while you’re alive. These microbial symbionts help you digest food, produce essential vitamins, protect you from infection and serve many other critical functions. In turn, the microbes, which are mostly concentrated in your gut, get to live in

Researchers have captured recordings of echidnas cooing, grunting, and making other sounds. But there’s a twist: they only do it during the breeding season. This discovery provides firm evidence that these spiky critters from Australia who eat termites and lay eggs are capable of vocalizing, which has been a topic of debate among scientists for

Within the deepest, darkest, and most mysterious place on Earth lie miniscule parasitic monsters. Monstrous to microbes, at least. Researchers have isolated a new type of virus that infects deep-sea Halomonas bacteria. This is the same group of microorganisms that are eating away at the wreck of the Titanic, but the host species in question

A fascinating parasitic plant found lurking in clusters around the bases of trees has optimized its living strategy so well it’s been able to prune nearly a third of its genome. The genus, known as Balanophoraceae, might be mistaken for a strange, fleshy, pink fungus, poking almost phallically out of the leaf litter. With a

Orcas have been killing great white sharks off South African shores. But lately, there’s been a mysterious disappearance of great white sharks in these waters. Scientists suggest that the remaining great whites who survived moved east to avoid trouble. For years, great white sharks were turning up dead on South Africa’s False Bay and Gansbaai

If you’re a whale, there’s often not too much to see out in deeper water. Perhaps that’s why so many whales get playful with kelp and other seaweed. Once might have been chance. But we’ve collected over 100 examples on social media of whales playing with seaweed, known as “kelping”. It’s not just one species

For roughly 250 million years, some 20,000-odd species of trilobite scuttled across Earth’s ocean floor. Despite the huge abundance these diverse animals in our fossil records, much of their basic biology is still unclear, like what they ate. Until now, trilobite diets have only been inferred from indirect clues, but researchers have just discovered the

A dog running from a pack of feral dogs dove into an even more dangerous situation when it took a swim in a crocodile-infested river. Instead of turning the dog into a snack, the crocodiles appeared to usher it to safety. Researchers published images of the event in the August edition of the Journal of

A stray canine in Brazil has turned out to be a whole new breed of adorable. According to a genetic study, the female animal is most probably the first of its kind – a hybrid between a South American pampas fox and a dog. Otherwise known as a dogxim. From the very start, its appearance

Deep beneath the ocean’s waves dwell creatures of pure horror. Sharp of tooth, screaming jowls, and flesh that shimmers with preternatural light, we can only be grateful for the shroud of darkness that hides them. There’s also Grimpoteuthis, the delightfully named Dumbo octopus – a genus of cephalopod about as terrifying as the adorable, big-eared

A new species of tarantula found scurrying around the forests of Thailand shimmers with dazzling blue highlights. Its discoverers have named the beastie Chilobrachys natanicharum, and say it’s the first tarantula ever identified living in Thailand’s mangroves. Findings like these highlight the value of preserving these natural habitats, where unique species have carved out small

Mysterious, bare patches of ground that polka-dot the deserts of Namibia and Australia are far more widespread than we knew. They’re known as fairy circles, and a new global assessment has counted 263 sites where these bald spots can be found, spread across three continents and 15 countries, including Sahel, Madagascar, and Middle-West Asia. This

For more than 300 million years, mammals of all shapes and sizes have flourished here on Earth. Today, this highly successful class of animal exists in nearly every major habitat on land, having persisted through massive climate fluctuations and several mass extinctions. It’s hard to imagine a world without them. Yet a new study led

Even millions of years ago, Australia was a paradise for spiders. In the arid heart of the continent, scientists have found an exquisitely preserved fossil of a fascinatingly large spider that roamed and hunted in what was once a lush rainforest. It’s not just any fossilized spider, either. It’s only the fourth spider fossil ever

The Tasmanian tiger has a long, checkered history that now includes being the first extinct animal family from which scientists have recovered RNA, the molecule that brings a species’ genome to life. With a specially modified protocol, a Swedish team extracted millions of RNA strands from the skin and muscle of a 132-year-old Tasmanian tiger,

Over many thousands of years, a species of animal that shared a close relationship with wolves slowly morphed into something that loves to curl up in your lap, get belly rubs, and eat kibble three times a day. These changes in dogs weren’t just behavioral. In fact, the changes in body plan – like shorter

In what could be excused as a dictionary definition of futility, scientists have tried to teach a species of boxed jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) a few simple tricks to test whether learning necessitates a brain. Don’t expect to see ‘The Amazing Ball-Juggling Cnidarians and Friends’ variety hour on your next trip to Seaworld. This isn’t a

A set of mysterious ‘hoofprints’ on the seafloor off the coast of New Zealand are not actually the work of a mythic underwater horse trotting through the abyss. As it turns out, there’s a more scientific explanation than that – one that helps reveal some of the more elusive characters living in the ocean’s depths.

The fossilized skull of a 455-million-year-old fish reveals an anatomy that’s completely new to the study of vertebrates, bridging a knowledge gap of 100 million years. Insights gained from studying the Ordovician jawless fish, Eriptychius americanus, suggest the early development of the vertebrate brain’s protective dome was more complex than scientists thought. “This fills a

It takes a few things to make a diamond. First, you need carbon. Then you need a bunch of pressure and heat deep below the crust. And time – up to billions of years of it – for nature to do its job and then cough them up somewhere close to the planet’s surface. That’s

Over 70 million years ago, dinosaurs lumbered through a wintry landscape in what is now Alaska. At the time, the Prince Creek Formation (PCF) was above the Arctic Circle and would’ve had constant darkness for four straight months. The below-freezing temperatures and occasional snowfall were inhospitable to many, but it seemed to suit a tiny