Animals

  1. A photo of a bluestreak cleaner wrasse.
    Animals

    Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware

    Cleaner fish recognize themselves in mirrors and photos, suggesting that far more animals may be self-aware than previously thought.

    By Betsy Mason
  2. A fisher stands in waist-deep water with a fishing line as he looks at a dolphin breaking through the surface
    Animals

    Here are 3 people-animal collaborations besides dolphins and Brazilians

    Dolphins working with people to catch fish recently made a big splash. But humans and other animals have cooperated throughout history.

    By Darren Incorvaia
  3. A newfound frog, Hyperolius ukaguruensis, which is a mxi of gold and green, looking upwards as it sits on a leaf
    Animals

    A newfound ‘croakless’ frog may communicate via touch

    A newly discovered frog species in Tanzania joins a rare group of frogs that don’t croak or ribbit.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  4. Two tabby cats play fighting on an apartment floor.
    Animals

    Are your cats having fun or fighting? Here are some ways to tell

    Certain behaviors indicate if your cats’ interaction is friendly, aggressive or something in between, a new study finds.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  5. An orange and gray Australian painted lady sitting atop a bright magenta flower.
    Life

    76 percent of well-known insects fall outside protected areas

    Protected areas can provide safe havens for insects, but many existing ones fall short, a new study finds.

    By Freda Kreier
  6. A close up photo of two prairie voles sitting next to each other on a white background.
    Animals

    Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin

    Researchers knocked out prairie voles’ oxytocin detection system. They weren’t expecting what happened next.

    By Darren Incorvaia
  7. photo of an African penguin standing on a rock and bowing its head
    Life

    Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction

    For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.

    By Jake Buehler
  8. A microscope image of an adult sea spider made a full recovery after its back half was amputated.
    Animals

    Some young sea spiders can regrow their rear ends

    Juvenile sea spiders can regenerate nearly all of their bottom halves — including muscles and the anus — or make do without them.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  9. An Amami rabbit sitting on the ground.
    Animals

    A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds

    Rabbits aren’t thought of as seed dispersers, but the Amami rabbit of Japan has now been recorded munching on a plant’s seeds and pooping them out.

    By Darren Incorvaia
  10. a wild red jungle fowl, which looks like a colorful rooster, standing in a forest
    Animals

    Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

    Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

    By Jake Buehler
  11. an echidna standing in tall grass
    Animals

    These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles

    An echidna’s snot bubbles coat the spiny critter’s nose with moisture, which then evaporates and draws heat from the sinus, cooling the blood.

    By Elise Cutts
  12. A purple octopus as it sits on the ocean floor.
    Science & Society

    Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’

    In a collection of essays profiling 10 marine animals, author Sabrina Imbler mixes in stories of their own family, self-discovery, sexuality and healing.

    By Aina Abell