Hide and squeak: German scientists reveal the playful, social lives of rats
The next time you come across a rat darting for cover, consider this: It might just want to have a game of hide-and-seek. A group of neuroscientists in Germany spent several weeks hanging out with rodents in a small room filled with boxes, finding the ...
Scientists studying a widely used pesticide say even small doses of the chemical can have crippling health effects on migrating birds, and it might be contributing to declines in their overall populations. The researchers with the University of Saskatchewan are set to publish their research ...
The worm that turned: Fossil sheds light on early animal movement
More than half a billion years ago, a worm-like creature wriggled its last, creating a groove that became a fossil offering new insights into some of the earliest animal movement. The origins of animal movement remain fairly murky, though there is evidence of "directional movement" ...
From sharks to saiga antelope, nations beef up support for endangered wildlife
From towering giraffes to bottom-feeding sharks and many species in between, endangered species got new protections under an agreement finalized Wednesday by most of the world's countries at a conference on saving plants and animals from the ravages of international trade. The 11-day World Wildlife ...
CITES agrees on near-total ban on sending wild elephants to zoos
The regulator of global wildlife trade will impose a near-total ban on sending African elephants captured from the wild to zoos after a final vote on the issue on Tuesday. Following a heated debate at a meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade ...
Seafood lovers who prize the mussel for its earthy taste and succulent flesh may be unaware of its growing potential in the fight against water pollution. The mussel is the vacuum cleaner of the sea, taking in phytoplankton for nourishment along with microplastics, pesticides and ...
Trans-Brazil trail raises hopes for future of Atlantic Forest
Luiz Pedreira walks with other hikers beneath the Atlantic Forest's thick canopy in Brazil, where an 8,000-km (5,000-mile) trail stretching the full length of the country is being opened up. He hopes that the creation of the trail, one of the world's longest, will raise ...
Genetic study implicates humans in demise of prehistoric cave bear 20,000 years ago
Genetic research that reconstructed the past population dynamics of the cave bear, a prominent prehistoric denizen of Europe, implicates Homo sapiens rather than climate cooling in the Ice Age extinction of these brawny plant-loving beasts. Scientists said on Thursday they obtained genome data from 59 ...
There might be life on the moon after all: thousands of virtually indestructible creatures that can withstand extreme radiation, sizzling heat, extreme cold and decades without food. These terrifying-sounding beings aren't aliens but instead microscopic Earthlings known as tardigrades, who likely made it out alive ...
Trump administration and native Alaskans strike deal on road through wildlife refuge
The Trump administration has resurrected a plan to carve a road through a national wildlife refuge in Alaska, less than four months after a federal judge struck down an earlier plan as illegal. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the chief executive of a native Alaskan ...
A pocket shark found in the Gulf of Mexico has turned out to be a new species. And the mysterious pouches it is named for, up near its front fins? Scientists say they squirt little glowing clouds into the ocean. Researchers have named the species ...
Gulp! Jurassic mammal was the first one able to eat politely
A shrew-like primitive mammal that inhabited China 165 million years ago represents a milestone in mammalian evolution, scientists said on Thursday, boasting a key anatomical trait in its throat that helped usher in the era of polite table manners. Scientists described an exquisitely preserved Jurassic ...
