animals

The ocean’s surface harbors an ecosystem of colorful, understudied life, ranging from protists and cnidarians to insects.

The sea surface is home to a diverse group of animals adapted to life in the open ocean, but increasingly, they’re sharing that space with plastic debris.

A genomics study reveals the parentage of a long-mysterious creature called a kunga, the earliest-known hybrid animal bred by humans.

The discovery, made on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, constitutes an exceptionally high number of new mammals to be described in a single paper.

Thousands of animals have had their shot already. How many more really need it?

The first chromosome-level genome assembly for a ctenophore may allow scientists to finally resolve the roots of the animal family tree.

Researchers find that the protective outer layer that lungfish make to survive extended dry periods—once thought to be a simple mucus shell—contains immune cells that trap bacteria and protect the animals from infection.

Moulton Chinchilla Ranch, the main US source of the animals for research, had a years-long history of disturbing findings in USDA inspections.

Surveillance networks set up to detect outbreaks among pets could one day have public health uses too.  

If confirmed, the findings indicate that animals appeared on Earth millions of years earlier than previously believed.

Scientists from MIT reveal the hidden music in spiderwebs.

In Chapter 1, “The Indelible Stamp,” author Melanie Challenger addresses the idea of human exceptionalism.

Since Darwin published his landmark work on natural selection, we’ve understood that we’re animals. But that doesn’t mean we really believe it.

Researchers disentangle complex connections among vegetation, herbivores, and dung in the South African savanna.

In South Africa, the composition of droppings varies by species’ body sizes, and which animals are found where depends on vegetation density.

While concern over SARS-CoV-2 in dogs and cats has captured attention, scientists have also been investigating whether pets can transmit multidrug-resistant bacteria to us.

A new fossil discovery indicates a second primate group also traversed the Atlantic millions of years ago on a raft of vegetation.

The unborn chicks translate auditory alarms from adult birds into quaking vibrations.

The familiar word elicits a twitch of the ears or swish of the tail, suggesting felines can distinguish their names from other words.