A whale shark vertebra from Pakistan, in cross section, showing 50 growth bands Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the largest living fish in the world, averaging about 32 feet (10 meters) long and weighing tens of thousands of pounds each.…
In this episode of Life’s Little Mysteries, we’ll take a closer look at mysterious animal abilities that are so incredible they might as well be superpowers. How do animals breathe underwater? Why can microscopic tardigrades survive being frozen for decades?…
A frontal view of the head shows the bilateral split between sexes (female left side of image, male right side). In an un-bee-lievable discovery, scientists identified a bee that’s male on its left side and female on its right side.…
The orangutan Ujian chats with new buddies, a romp of river otters. A family of orangutans and a romp of river otters are the furriest of friends, according to zookeepers in Belgium who purposefully arranged for the primates’ and mustelids’…
The plague’s feline victims were largely adult cougars, but one 3-month-old kitten did die of the disease. The plague is notorious for killing tens of millions of people throughout history, but a new study has revealed that the deadly bacteria…
Scientists have discovered six entirely new coronaviruses lurking in bats in Myanmar. These viruses are in the same family as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is currently spreading across the globe; but the researchers said the newbies aren’t closely related genetically…
Toxoplasma gondii, a “mind-controlling” parasite that causes the disease toxoplasmosis, has been found in public lands in Oahu, Hawaii for the first time, researchers have discovered. Though this parasite was previously found in people and in wildlife on the Hawaiian…
Joe Exotic, featured in the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” is the former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (also known as the G.W. Zoo) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. He is serving a 22-year prison sentence for crimes including…
Baby leatherback sea turtles make their way to the ocean as soon as they hatch. Baby leatherback sea turtles are doing better than they have in years, now that many humans are opting (or being ordered) to stay off beaches…
Cameras on the backs of baby humpback whales have captured a rare glimpse of moms nursing their calves. In addition to a camera, the suction-cup tags also carry an acoustic recorder, depth sensor and accelerometer, which together, collect data on…
Two Spinosaurus hunt Onchopristis, a prehistoric sawfish, in the waters of the Kem Kem river system in what is now Morocco. Despite old, out-of-date drawings of long-necked dinosaurs wading in swamps, scientists have long believed that dinosaurs were a land-loving…
Naked mole rats are supremely weird creatures — they don’t need much oxygen, and instead have seizures if they don’t get enough carbon dioxide, the chemical humans exhale when we breathe, researchers just found.The scientists found that the wrinkled rodents…