The newly discovered duck-billed dinosaur, Gonkoken nanoi, likely grew to around 13 feet long and weighed up to 1 ton, new analysis reveals. Paleontologists have unearthed a never-before-seen species of primitive duck-billed dinosaur in Chile — the likes of which has never been found in the Southern Hemisphere. The discoveryContinue Reading
White Gladis was so hellbent on stopping boats in the Strait of Gibraltar that she engaged in attacks instead of protecting her newborn calf. White Gladis, the orca that likely started the attacks on boats in Iberian waters, may have been so hellbent on stopping boats that she neglected herContinue Reading
They are a poster child for imminent extinction, at risk from deforestation, climate change and bushfires. Yet, where I live in South Australia, they are so abundant they are in danger of eating themselves out of house and home. Koalas present something of a paradox. They are a poster childContinue Reading
Most biologists will answer confidently when asked ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg?” but the answer may depend on what type of egg you’re talking about. You’ve heard the age-old riddle: “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” Taken metaphorically, it’s a meditation on the futility ofContinue Reading
Five species of previously unknown snakes with stunning eyes were discovered in jungle trees, and one was named after Leonardo DiCaprio. But mining threatens them all. Slithering among shrubs in the foothill forests of Panama, there is a snake the color of burnt embers, with round eyes like glowing coals.Continue Reading
Grab a front-row seat, it’s rush hour for belugas. Is the summer heat getting you down? Cool off with a virtual dip into icy Arctic waters and watch as tens of thousands of beluga whales frolic in the frigid sea. Starting Friday (July 15), the research vessel Delphi will broadcastContinue Reading
The Kangaroo Island dunnart was one species seen to reemerge after Australian bushfires Few marsupials have gone from miraculous survival to the brink of extinction as quickly as the Kangaroo Island dunnart. In 2019 and 2020, devastating fires burned nearly 10 million hectares of southeastern Australia. The flames threatened hundredsContinue Reading
Sexism in biology has left females misunderstood To Charles Darwin, nature had a certain order. And in that order, males always came out on top. They were the leaders, the innovators, the wooers and the doers. “The males of almost all animals have stronger passions than the females,” Darwin wroteContinue Reading
The amphibians control their descents without the use of any webbed limbs In one of the tallest trees on Earth, a tan, mottled salamander ventures out on a fern growing high up on the trunk. Reaching the edge, the amphibian leaps, like a skydiver exiting a plane. The salamander’s confidence,Continue Reading
Ultrasounds tracking fetal mouth movements pinpoint when vocalization motor skills develop Cradled inside the hushed world of the womb, fetuses might be preparing to come out howling. In the same way newborn humans can cry as soon as they’re born, common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) produce contact calls toContinue Reading
