Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2015

10 extinct giants that once roamed North America

Until the end of the last ice age, American cheetahs, enormous armadillo-like creatures and giant sloths called North America home. But it's long puzzled scientists why these animals and other megafauna — creatures heavier than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) — went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Rapid warming periods called...

Jun 30, 2015

Spidey Senses Tingling! Arachnids Feel Sex

Spider sex just got a little more interesting. Researchers now find that the spider equivalent of the penis isn't numb like once believed; it's filled with nerves that might help the spider ensure fertilization. Male spiders mate using specialized appendages called pedipalps, which end in structures called palpal organs. The...

Jun 30, 2015

Myth Debunked: Boa Constrictors Don't Suffocate Prey to Death

Boa constrictors are notorious for their deadly grip, squeezing their next meal until it expires. But scientists have long wondered whether this fatal hug kills prey by suffocation or by obstructing blood flow in the snake's victims. Now, a new study finds that rats attacked by boas don't die from...

Apr 30, 2015

Male Snakes Spend Mega Calories When They Mate

Every spring, red-sided garter snakes leave their hibernation burrows to engage in a frenzied jumble of mating. But a new study finds that doing the deed is no easy feat for males; in fact, they can spend up to a whopping 18 percent of their daily energy making special plugs...

Mar 31, 2015

Songbirds Emerge for Spring, But Is the Timing Off? (Essay)

Naomi Eide is a master's student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Just before dawn, birds wreak havoc on the stillness, cackling and calling to the world that spring has...

Jan 31, 2015

Watch Very '80s Footage of 'Shark Lady' Eugenie Clark at Work

This week, ocean explorers mourned the loss of a legend in their field: Eugenie Clark, a marine biologist and authority on sharks. She was just one of those rare people that kept going until the day she disappeared, Fabien Cousteau told Live Science. That's really the true definition of passion....

Dec 31, 2014

What Beagles Reveal about Alzheimer's in Humans

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Every 67 seconds someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and new estimates suggest that it may be the third leading cause of death of older...

Dec 31, 2014

Surprise! Fish Lurk in Antarctica's Dark Underworld

In a cold and dark underwater world, where a never-ending rain of rocks keeps the seafloor barren, researchers were startled to find fish, crustaceans and jellyfish investigating a submersible camera after drilling through nearly 2,500 feet (740 meters) of Antarctic ice. The swimmers are in one of the world's most...

Dec 31, 2014

Doorstep Delivery of Shark Fin Soup Is in Bad Taste (Op-Ed)

Jacqueline Savitz is vice president for U.S. oceans at Oceana. Savitz contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Can one person make a difference in helping restore the health of our oceans? What about one person and her closest Facebook friends? On January 28, Oceana coordinated...

Nov 30, 2016

Reel Big: 112-Pound Catfish Caught in North Carolina

A gigantic, 112-lb. (50 kilograms) catfish was reeled in by a North Carolina man the day before Thanksgiving, according to local news reports. The man, Riahn Brewington, caught the massive fish in the northeast section of Cape Fear River in North Carolina, local ABC affiliate WWAY reported. Despite its mammoth...

Aug 31, 2016

Baby Gorillas Show Off Cute Hairstyles

Due to a combination of natural growth differences and parent grooming variations, baby gorillas have unique and sometimes very human-like hairdos. Nyampinga, born April 10, 2016. (Image credit: Keiko Mori/Kwita Izina)Their distinctive looks were showcased at the recent gorilla naming ceremony (or Kwita Izina) held in Rwanda, where 35 percent...

Aug 31, 2016

Cute Insect-Murdering Mammal Had Roots in Dinosaur Age

Hundreds of years ago, hungry barn owls gobbled down small mammals called Nesophontes and regurgitated pellets of their remains. That mammal is now extinct, but a genetic analysis of the owl pellets reveals how it evolved from some of the earliest mammals approximately 70 million years ago. Nesophontes was a...

Jun 30, 2016

Addax Facts: Endangered Antelope Faces Extinction

The addax is a species of antelope. Addaxes are also known as white antelopes and the screwhorn antelopes. They are critically endangered; there may be only three remaining in the wild. Extinction may not be imminent, however; about 2,000 are kept in zoos and on ranches around the world. Size...

Jun 30, 2016

Photos: The Many Mammals of the North American Deserts

A living desert (Image credit: Linda & Dr. Dick Buscher)The North American deserts are teeming with mammals that are both colorful and uniquely adapted to the harsh environmental conditions. Many such mammals have learned to not only survive but thrive when living close to humans in desert communities. This urban...

Jun 30, 2016

Facts About Regal Blue Tangs

One of the biggest movie stars of 2016 is Dory, a precocious and forgetful fish featured in Finding Dory. Dory is a cartoon depiction of a Paracanthurus hepatus, a type of surgeonfish that also has many common names. This fish's common names include palette surgeonfish, flagtail surgeonfish, blue surgeonfish, common...