Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

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...

Jun 16, 2023

Viral video of deer eating a snake isn't as weird as you might think

It makes for disturbing viewing: In a 22-second video shared recently on Instagram, a white-tailed deer locks eyes with the camera as it nonchalantly slurps up a dead snake like it's a strand of spaghetti. The somewhat unnerving scene, filmed by Texas-based Trey Reinhardt, provoked alarm across social media about...

Jun 26, 2023

Flying squirrels in China have discovered a clever new trick to store nuts for longer

Flying squirrels in China have developed a clever way to hide their nuts — chewing grooves in them so they can be stored between tree branches. The unusual behavior, seen in two species in the tropical rainforests of Hainan Island, may preserve the critters' food for longer than burying the...

Jun 28, 2023

See the moment a 28-year-old lab chimp glimpses the open sky for the 1st time

Vanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, has lived her entire life in captivity without an unobscured view of the sky. But now, a heartwarming new video shows the great ape seeing the sky for the first time at an island chimp sanctuary in Florida. For a portion of her early life, Vanilla...

Jul 26, 2023

Buddhist ritual saves exotic fish from slaughter — only for 'adventurous' Tibetan otters to feast on them instead

A Buddhist ritual has created an all-you-can-eat buffet for otters living near rivers on the Tibetan Plateau, new research suggests. Fangsheng, meaning life release, is the religious practice of saving and releasing animals that were destined to be slaughtered. Buddhist texts recommend the ritual as a way of paying back...

Aug 9, 2023

Bison are being introduced to the Russian Arctic to replace extinct woolly mammoths. But why?

Scientists have introduced bison to the Russian Arctic to take on the role of extinct mammoths and help restore ancient ecosystems. Twelve plains bison (Bison bison bison) have arrived at Ingilor Nature Park, a protected area covering more than 2.2 million acres (900,000 hectares) in the northern Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area....

Aug 31, 2023

Critically endangered donkey with stripy 'zebra legs' born in UK zoo

One of the world's most endangered animals, an African wild ass — which looks like a donkey with zebra legs — has been born at a zoo in the U.K., raising hopes for its species' continued survival. African wild asses (Equus africanus) are a species of donkey native to Eritrea,...

Sep 6, 2023

Scientists finally figured out what's making German wild boars radioactive, and it's not just Chernobyl

After puzzling scientists for decades, researchers have finally figured out what's making Bavaria's wild boars radioactive, even as other animals show few signs of contamination. Turns out, the animals are still significantly contaminated with radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons detonated over 60 years ago — not just from the Chernobyl...

Oct 21, 2023

Takins: Strange, mountain-dwelling mammals with mythical golden fleeces

Name: Takin (Budorcas taxicolor); four subspecies: Bhutan takin (B. taxicolor whitei); golden takin (B. taxicolor bedfordi); Mishmi takin (B. taxicolor taxicolor); and Sichuan takin (B. taxicolor tibetana) Where it lives: Alpine zones and forested valleys in Asia, ranging through areas of Bhutan, Myanmar, northern India, central and southern China and...