Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2010

Foster Family Created to Help Baby Cheetahs Survive

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute welcomed two furry new additions earlier this month. Two cheetah cubs were born at the Virginia facility on Dec. 6 and Dec. 16 to two different mothers. Although zoo staff say the tiny cats are now doing well, it was rough going for the cubs...

Oct 31, 2010

Rare Cold Water Coral Discovered in Northern Africa

A rare cold water coral reef has been discovered off the coast of Mauritania in Northern Africa, the first time such a reef has been found this far south, according to a new report. In the middle of an enormous rock formation in an undersea canyon, scientists have found a...

Oct 31, 2010

Amazon River Welcomes 180,000 Baby Turtles

An army of tiny baby turtles recently made a determined crawl to the Amazon River, after their release by a conservation group. The adorable creatures, called Arrau River turtles, had been nursed through the most dangerous part of their lives the time just after they hatched before being released into...

Oct 31, 2010

'Match.com for Penguins' Breeds Success at New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium's most successful African penguin breeding season recently ended with the birth of 11 new chicks, according to aquarium biologists. Those 11 hatchlings have since grown into juveniles and rejoined their parents in the aquarium's African penguin exhibit. [Related: Flightless Birds: All 18 Penguin Species ] This...

Oct 31, 2010

Dino Demise Led to Evolutionary Explosion of Huge Mammals

Mammals around the world exploded in size after the major extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, filling environmental niches left vacant by the loss of dinosaurs, according to a new study published today (Nov. 25) in the journal Science. The maximum size of mammals...

Sep 30, 2010

Name That Baby Kiwi

The Smithsonian National Zoo is giving the public a chance to help decide on a name for one of the zoo's new kiwi chicks, one of the first in the United States to be bred in captivity. Kiwis (Apteryx mantelli) are small, flightless birds unique to New Zealand. The brown...

Sep 30, 2010

New Homes Built for Endangered Galapagos Penguins

In an attempt to boost the population of endangered Galápagos penguins, researchers have been building new nests for them on the islands. Biologists hope that the nests will help increase the population of the endangered Galápagos penguins,which have experienced a population decline of more than 50 percent since the 1970s,...

Sep 30, 2010

Price to Save Species Put at 10 Times Present Spending

World leaders failed to meet a 2010 target for cutting global biodiversity losses, but researchers say that conservation efforts still managed to stave off extinction for some species. Now they warn that countries must spend 10 times as much on conservation to halt the loss of plants and animals in...

Aug 31, 2010

Earth's Penguins Skating on Thin Ice

If the harrowing plight of emperor penguins portrayed in the film March of the Penguins looked bad, it's nothing compared with the dire straits faced by many other penguin species. Of the 18 penguin species on Earth, 13 are considered either threatened or endangered, with some species on the brink...

Aug 31, 2010

Why Do Bird Flocks Move in Unison?

Every autumn, flocks of birds begin to migrate to warmer territories. But how do they stay in such perfect formation? The impressive, perfectly timed flight maneuvers of bird flocks, as well as their symmetrical group formation, can be summed up in a simple model, according to researchers from Budapest, Hungary....

Aug 31, 2010

Bloodsucking Warrior Worms Destroy and Eat the Enemy

Parasitic worms may possess warrior castes just as social insects do — fearsome soldiers that rip and swallow enemies with their mouths to protect their colonies. These bloodsucking worms could shed new light on how sociality evolved, researchers said. Trematodes are parasitic flatworms commonly known as flukes. These flattened oval...

Aug 31, 2010

National Zoo Artificially Inseminates Asian Elephant

In an attempt to further conservation efforts for the Asian elephant, veterinarians at the Smithsonian National Zoo have performed a series of artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi, a 34-year old Asian elephant. A successful pregnancy would be an important milestone in the zoo's commitment to Asian elephant conservation, zoo officials...

Jul 31, 2010

Why Do Squirrels Chase Each Other?

The sight of squirrels vivaciously chasing each other across a park lawn or spiraling down a tree trunk is one that everyone is familiar with. But why do they do it? There are several reasons why squirrels play tag, and a lot depends on the age and the sex of...

Jul 31, 2010

Dry Pet Food Linked to Human Salmonella Outbreak

To avoid food-borne illness, don't feed Fido in the kitchen. That's the advice of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who reported in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics that an outbreak of salmonella in 79 people between 2006 and 2008 was caused by contaminated dry...

Jul 31, 2010

Mug Shots: 10 Lost Amphibians

Lost Amphibians Gastric Brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus). (Image credit: John Wombey/ARKive/Conservation International.)Scientists are on the look-out for lost amphibians animals considered possibly extinct but that may be holding on in a few remote places. There may be up to 100 of them hiding in the world's forests. Here are just...