Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 27, 2024

Millions of mystery holes at the bottom of the North Sea are not what scientists thought they were

In the murky waters of the North Sea, shallow divots dot the seafloor. The pits are round or oval, and range in width from a few meters to more than 196 feet (60 meters), but are only 4.3 inches (11 centimeters) deep. Some pits appear to have merged, creating oblong...

Mar 6, 2024

'Should not really exist in these waters': Scientists spot gray whale, thought to be extinct in the Atlantic, off Massachusetts coast

Scientists experienced an incredibly rare event last week when they saw a gray whale cruising through New England's coastal waters. The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) was believed to be extinct in this part of the Atlantic Ocean; the species has not been spotted there in more than 200 years, according...

Mar 5, 2024

Prairie vole orgasms 'rewire' their brains for long-term love

Scientists have discovered that orgasms rewire the brains of fuzzy little rodents called prairie voles, helping them to bond and form long-term monogamous relationships. The research provides an insight into how sex, intimacy and the formation of enduring attachments can trigger a cascade of activity in parts of the brain...

Mar 9, 2024

Patagonian mara: The monogamous rodents that mate only a few times a year but pee on each other constantly

Name: Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum) Where it lives: Arid grasslands and brush lands in central and southern Argentina What it eats: Grasses, cacti, seeds, fruits, flowers and its own dung Why it's awesome: Patagonian maras mate for life, and males are fiercely protective of their partners, following them wherever they...

May 16, 2023

Chlamydia is killing Australia's koalas, but ambitious new project could stop the spread

Conservationists in Australia have begun vaccinating wild koalas against a highly contagious and deadly form of chlamydia. In recent decades, the marsupials have been plagued with a destructive strain of chlamydia, which belongs to a closely related species of the sexually-transmitted disease in humans. In koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), chlamydia causes...

May 19, 2023

World's only known albino giant anteater appears to be thriving in the wild, photos show

Conservationists have released new photos of the only known living albino giant anteater on Earth, who is now believed to be at least 1 year old. Researchers from the Anteaters and Highways Project (AHP), a multi-year assessment of anteater-vehicle collisions set up by Brazil's Wild Animal Conservation Institute (ICAS), first...

May 19, 2023

Birth of wild red wolf pups brings hope to species on brink of extinction

An extremely rare litter of critically endangered red wolf pups has been born in the wild for the second time in five years. The wolf parents have also adopted a captive-bred pup into the new brood for the first time, further raising hopes that the species can be saved from...

May 22, 2023

Rarest of rare: 2 albino egg-laying mammals spotted in Australia

Residents of New South Wales, Australia, have spotted two extremely rare albino echidnas in the space of just two weeks. Geoff Hadley found one of the all-white, quill-covered creatures on a road in the Bathurst region, according to ABC News. He helped the echidna cross safely before reporting the sighting...

May 24, 2023

'Mini kangaroos on steroids' make comeback in South Australia after disappearing for 100 years

Adorable marsupials that look like mini kangaroos on steroids are bouncing back in southern Australia after disappearing from the region for more than 100 years. Brush-tailed bettongs (Bettongia penicillata), also known as yalgiri in the language of the local Narungga People, are energetic creatures that once hopped and darted across...

May 24, 2023

Some mice tails are secretly reinforced with bony scales, just like dinosaurs

Researchers have serendipitously discovered that all species in a mouse genus have tails secretly reinforced with bony scales. Before now, only one mammal group — armadillos — were known to possess these scales. Spiny mice in the genus Acomys, which contains 21 species, appear similar to common mice from the...

May 24, 2023

Extremely rare case of mad cow disease detected in the US

A rare case of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been detected at a slaughter plant in South Carolina but poses no threat to humans or other cattle. It is only the seventh confirmed case of the extremely deadly disease ever recorded in the U.S....

Jun 7, 2023

Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' top 200, twice as many as we thought

Thirty years after Pablo Escobar's death in 1993, the notorious cartel leader's cocaine hippos are still wreaking havoc in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. A new study of the invasive mammals' population in Colombia revealed there could be double the number experts previously estimated, Nature reported. A study...

Jun 10, 2023

Koalas are both endangered and so plentiful they're causing problems. How'd that happen?

Koalas present something of a paradox. 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. How is it that koalas...

Jun 11, 2023

Why do horses sleep standing up?

If you've ever passed by a field of horses at night, you've probably noticed that they rarely lie down to sleep. So why do these mammals sleep standing up? The answer is one of survival: Horses slumber while standing to balance their need for sleep against the ever-looming threat of...

Jun 12, 2023

Rabid moose found 'stumbling, drooling profusely' is 1st case ever recorded in Alaska

Scientists have confirmed the first ever case of rabies in an Alaska moose after a diseased animal stumbled into a small community and charged at residents while drooling profusely. The moose was euthanized shortly after it wandered into Teller, western Alaska, on June 2. The moose was unbalanced, stumbling, drooling...