We should be grateful we have anuses. Some creatures don’t have one, so they have to poop out of their mouths. But as it turns out, there’s also an animal whose poop-chute appears only when it needs to defecate. If you hate having to describe a typical day in your job, spare a thought for

Half a billion years ago, the ocean floor was thought to be completely void of life, an ancient dead zone without the necessary oxygen for survival. Thanks to a lucky new discovery, scientists are now second-guessing that assumption. Hiding in a slab of northern Canada’s ancient sea floor, geologists have uncovered a ‘superhighway’ of prehistoric worm

Nearly 27,000 years ago, a giant ground sloth travelled across a barren, arid landscape in what is now Belize, munching on grassy vegetation and searching for water. A nearby sinkhole may have promised relief, but the creature probably fell in and never came out. In 2014, divers discovered the remains of that giant sloth buried

A large, mysterious fish discovered only recently has been found on a beach in Santa Barbara, California. The find has weirded out biologists, because as far as we know, this huge sunfish is supposed to live in the Southern Hemisphere. The discovery of the hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta) was announced in 2017 to much fanfare.

If there’s one place in the world you would expect to find an Alien-esque monster of the deep, it’s Australia. Earlier this month, a group of anglers were fishing in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory when they snagged something unexpected. Stopping the boat, the anglers pulled up a 15-centimetre-long (5.9 inches) worm-like fish,

Scientists have come across a new species of bacteria they’re calling ‘golden death’ – microorganisms that can devour their parasitic roundworm hosts in hours by eating them from the inside out. Rather a gory way to go if you’re a parasitic worm, but these Chryseobacterium nematophagum bacteria could prove very useful in helping control the

Just when we thought octopuses couldn’t be any weirder, it turns out that they and their cephalopod brethren evolve differently from nearly every other organism on the planet. In a surprising twist, in April 2017 scientists discovered that octopuses, along with some squid and cuttlefish species, routinely edit their RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequences to adapt

Scientists in the Galápagos have observed something amazing: the evolution of a completely new species, in the wild, in real-time. And it took just two generations. Back in 2017, genomic sequencing and the analysis of physical characteristics officially confirmed the new species of Darwin’s finch, endemic to a small island called Daphne Major in the

What do you think spiders eat? Insects? Yeah, that’s true. But their diets can actually be a lot more varied than that – and biologists have observed a spider smorgasbord that will blow your mind. In the Amazon rainforest, a team of researchers recorded spiders and other arthropods such as centipedes feasting on tadpoles, lizards,

As an unexplored legend of the deep, the Great Blue Hole in Belize is said to hold deep-sea monsters and Maya mysteries. The first expedition to the bottom has turned up neither of those wonders, but what scientists and explorers have discovered is fascinating - even though it is not, as several outlets have claimed, an

This February, mother nature is keeping us occupied with a puzzling new riddle, and the solution has even got the scientists stumped: how exactly did a humpback whale end up dead on the edge of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil? It’s a curiosity that has drawn worldwide attention. The 8-metre-long carcass (26 feet) was found

We already know that cats can be as neurotic as their owners are, but just how deep are the personality ties between felines and the humans who serve look after them? Pretty deep, according to new research from scientists in the UK, who found that personality traits of cat owners correlated with related behaviours exhibited

Have you ever wondered how fish manage to survive temperatures below freezing in Antarctic waters? (You are now.) It’s a pretty neat question – and now, thanks to genome analysis, we actually have an answer. For one fish, that is. And boy is it an odd one. It’s called the Antarctic blackfin icefish (Chaenocephalus aceratus),

Most of us know that at some point in our evolutionary history around 600 million years ago, single-celled organisms evolved into more complex multicellular life. But knowing that happened and actually seeing it happen in real-time in front of you is an entirely different matter altogether. And that’s exactly what researchers from the George Institute

Is there any dinosaur more iconic than Tyrannosaurus Rex? Its mighty jaws and fierce mien ignite the imaginations of four-year-olds everywhere. It’s the dinosaur poster child – yet this fearsome beast’s beginnings were, new evidence suggests, quite humble. How humble? Well, a little smaller than a kangaroo, as we now know from a newly discovered

From December to April in Yosemite National Park, chilly water from melting mountain snow streams toward the eastern edge of El Capitan and forms what’s known as Horsetail Falls. The cascade is predictably picturesque within the greater grandeur of one of the country’s most stunning national parks. But it becomes truly phenomenal for just a

From above, the Namib Desert in Africa appears afflicted by disease, pocked with patches of bare earth that are either touched by the gods, the dead, or the wildlife, depending on who you ask. Science had all but closed the book on these mysterious ‘fairy circles‘, placing the blame squarely on the soil. To remove

When Charles Darwin famously visited the Galapagos Islands back in 1835, he discovered a volcanic archipelago that was home to 15 different species of giant tortoise. Today, after killing off more than 100,000 of these strange creatures, we are down to about 10 species, many of which are critically endangered. One was missing for over

Damage-resistant genes. Healing powers. Very low risk of cancer. No, scientists aren’t describing Wolverine or Superman – those are the powers of the great white shark. The star of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, whose scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias, has a reputation as a meat-eating monster of the sea. But in fact, great white sharks may

Looking at a picture of Wallace’s giant bee, you wouldn’t pick this insect as elusive. Four times as big as a honeybee, and a stark black colour, it looks like the security guard or bouncer of the bee world. But researchers have just released the first photos and video of a live Wallace’s giant bee

We know that many of the traits we see in animals are there because they evolved by somehow being useful to the species. But evolution is messy, and the supposed benefits of weird features aren’t always obvious. Take zebra stripes, for example. The stark black and white garb of the three zebra species roaming Africa

Imagine a highly sophisticated body armor that is a tough as it is flexible, a shield that consists largely of water, but remains strong enough to prevent mechanical penetration. Now imagine that this armor is not only strong, but also soft and stretchy, so much so that the wearer is able to move their body

Humanity has always had an uneasy relationship with wolves. They loom large in our ancient mythologies as fearsome beasts; over the millennia, that fear has led to devastation of wolf populations across Europe, including 19th century Germany. In the 1960s, numbers of wolves (Canis lupus) in Europe hit an all-time low, veering perilously close to

For twent million years, the world’s oceans were home to a monstrous shark, named the ‘megalodon’. Then suddenly, without explanation, the 18-metre-long (50 foot) super predator disappeared. It’s a juicy bit of ancient history that has inspired a host of books, documentaries and blockbuster films, some of which like to imagine that this bloody thirsty

Classic sci-fi writer Jules Verne once imagined a whole subterranean landscape deep inside the planet, complete with lost prehistoric species and plant life. The book was aptly titled Journey to the Centre of the Earth. We might not actually find dinosaurs down there, but new research is revealing features in the underworld resembling structures on the

While many people’s reaction to big hairy spiders is usually “AHHH”, you’ve got to admit, this spider’s odd-looking back appendage does look rather amusing. The peculiar and previously undocumented protrusion belongs to the tarantula Ceratogyrus attonitifer found in Angola, Central Africa. While scientists have observed related species of baboon spiders with a back bulge before, they’ve never

On shadowy paws in the dark of the night, the rare black leopard is rarely seen by human eyes. But now its breathtaking beauty has been captured in exquisite detail, thanks to trail cams and camera traps set up in Laikipia County in Kenya. San Diego Zoo caught the gorgeous animal on remote video cameras

Deep in the Watagans Mountain Range in Australia, a red-eyed green tree frog (Litoria chloris) had bitten off much more than it could chew. Its dinner was to be an unassuming red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei); instead, the frog ended up covered in a sticky mucus and completely stuck to a tree branch. Researchers from

Behind this sentence lies a solid bedrock of mathematics, one that has been shown to govern all human languages. Linguists have found the hoots and hollers, gestures and expressions used by chimpanzees obey some of the same basic principles, demonstrating the foundations of language have deep evolutionary roots. A study led by the University of

Scientists have discovered what they say are the earliest known fossilised traces of multicellular moving organisms, beating the previous record-holder by an incredible 1.5 billion years. Hidden in a shale rock deposit on the west coast of Africa, thin tube-like structures carved in ancient sediment reveal the footprint of tiny slug-like creatures that lived and

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) who is at least 68 years old, has done it again – she’s hatched a new chick at her nesting ground in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Each year since at least 2006, Wisdom and her mate Akeakamai have been coming back to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii

My ideas about animal behaviour were turned upside down in 2002 when I watched Betty, a New Caledonian crow, fashion a hook from a piece of wire and use it to pull a small container with meat from a tube. Betty’s behaviour captivated scientists because it seemed so creative: there was no obvious solution to

Life is miraculous, and watching it unfold in real time is even more so. A new video from Netherlands-based filmmaker Jan van IJken now lets you watch a baby salamander twisting and turning as it grows in its transparent egg. Simply called Becoming, this beautiful short film follows a single salamander embryo (Ichthyosaura Alpestris) as

Valentine’s Day. It’s for suckers, right? A Hallmark holiday designed just to part you with your money. But El Paso Zoo in Texas can help you celebrate in a way that will warm the cockles of your cold, black heart – and it won’t cost you a thing. In a livestreamed event called “Quit Bugging

Maggots repulse us. Despite being the innocent babes of the insect world, there’s something about these larval critters that just gets under our skin. Yes, literally too. And dangerously. But there are good reasons we should overcome our aversion. It’s becoming increasingly clear how incorporating insects into our diets stands to benefit the environment –

Two bird lovers in Erie, Pennsylvania were only expecting to enjoy the company of their colourful feathered friends when they began setting up backyard feeders 25 years ago. But then the lavish spread attracted an unusual visitor: a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that was half the brilliant vermilion of the male of the species, and

A pair of researchers in New Zealand made a surprising discovery several weeks ago while analyzing a pile of seal poop. Nestled inside one of the excrement samples – about the size of two dinner rolls, if you must know – was something unusually hard: a USB stick. Needless to say, memory drives are not

Scientists have identified two proteins that can partially stimulate growth in amputated toes in mice, a discovery that puts us one step closer to one day being able to replace amputated limbs in humans. While bone growth has been achieved before, the new research demonstrates signs of joint growth as well – this shows a

When an earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on September 28 last year, thousands of people lost their lives. Dragged out to sea, buried in mud, they were the victims of 2018’s most devastating earthquake. Satellite data has now revealed that the grinding sections of crust responsible for the 7.5 magnitude tremor unravelled

Magnetic north is not where it used to be. Since 2015, the place to which a compass points has been sprinting toward Siberia at a pace of more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) a year. And this week, after a delay caused by the month-long partial government shutdown in the United States, humans have finally

Once, about 300 million years ago, when southern Africa was joined at South America’s hip, this now arid region was covered in a wide expanse of glaciers. You wouldn’t know it today, looking out over the dry volcanic desert of the Twyfelfontein area in northern Namibia. But throughout its 4.5 billion year history, our planet

When dinosaurs roamed the Earth in ancient Patagonia, one particular type of dinosaur might have stuck out amongst the rest. Living 140 million years ago in the early Lower Cretaceous, the newly discovered herbivore Bajadasaurus pronuspinax had a thing for growing spikes. It was part of the Sauropod family, but looked a little like a small Brontosaurus crossed

The story of Archaeopteryx – a Late Jurassic dinosaur known as ‘the first bird‘ – begins with a single, fossilised feather. But like any great scientific tale, that is far from where it ends. Today, 158 years after the initial discovery, one of the world’s most famous birds remains up in the air. Scientists now

A researcher studying whales and dolphins was treated to an extremely rare sight in January: a baby humpback whale swimming with its mum, less than 20 minutes after being born. It’s the closest Lars Bejder had been to a live birth in around 25 years – and lucky for us, he captured the extraordinary experience

Bigger dogs, with larger brains, perform better than smaller pups on certain measures of intelligence, new research shows. Larger-brained dogs outperform smaller dogs on measures of executive functions – a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for controlling and coordinating other cognitive abilities and behaviors. In particular, bigger dogs have better short-term memory and

It’s unclear whether the initial incursion happened stealthily at night or brazenly during the day – though authorities are almost certain the invasion occurred by sea. And federal employees who returned from the month-long partial government shutdown decided that it was probably not worth the effort to relocate the roughly 90 individuals involved. That’s because

Since the 1980s scientists have spotted a link between naval sonar systems and beaked whales seemingly killing themselves – by deliberately getting stranded on beaches. Now, researchers might have revealed the horrifying reason why. In short, the sound pulses appear to scare the whales to death, acting like a shot of adrenaline might in a

The photo above is not depicting some ten-legged mutant bird as some of our Instagram commenters have suggested. It’s also not one of those hilarious birds with arms memes. He’s just one brave daddy bird hauling his four chicklings to safety. Comb-crested Jacanas (Irediparra gallinacea) are also known as lillytrotters or Jesus-birds for their ability to