Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 27, 2023

Chimps go through menopause. That could shed light on how it evolved in humans.

Wild female chimpanzees in Uganda live well past the point when they can reproduce and probably go through menopause similar to humans, a new study has found. The finding raises fresh questions about why humans experience menopause. Until now, humans were one of only three animal species known to go...

Oct 27, 2023

22,000-foot volcano summit is home to Earth's highest-dwelling vertebrates, study confirms

The hostile, snow-capped tops of volcanoes in the Andes are home to the world's highest-dwelling vertebrates, new research confirms. The finding that small mammals live 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) above sea level challenges assumptions about the limits of vertebrate life, researchers told Science magazine. In the past, scientists repeatedly found...

Nov 2, 2023

Can rats 'imagine'? Rodents show signs of imagination while playing VR games

Do lab rats have the ability to imagine, like humans do? A new study says yes. Rats may be capable of a type of imagination that's crucial for route planning, research from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) suggests. Although the creative arts spring to mind when we think of...

Nov 7, 2023

Watch rare footage of wolf hunting sea otter in Alaska at low tide

Wolves on the Alaskan coast now regularly kill and eat sea otters and harbor seals, scientists have discovered. The finding suggests that the coastal wolves can adapt their hunting behavior — and may have developed unique strategies to prey on marine mammals when food on land is scarce. The study...

Nov 9, 2023

Chimps use military tactic only ever seen in humans before

Chimps use an ancient military tactic to make decisions and avoid potentially fatal clashes with rival groups, scientists have discovered. Researchers observed two western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) communities in Africa take to the hills to carry out surveillance on each other — much like reconnaissance missions used by militaries....

Nov 18, 2023

Do lemmings actually jump off of cliffs?

In 1958, Disney released a wildlife documentary called White Wilderness. One scene depicts a tiny, brown-furred rodent — a lemming — scuttling about in the Arctic snow. There is an actual living legend, the narrator declares, before diving into an explanation of the so-called lemming suicide myth. In a turn...

Nov 24, 2023

Giant 1.5-foot-long rat that can crack open coconuts photographed for 1st time on remote island

The first ever images of the Vangunu giant rat, an elusive rodent that can grow up to 1.5 feet long and is known from only a single specimen that fell out of a tree six years ago, have been recorded by researchers in the Solomon Islands. Using camera traps and...

Dec 1, 2023

Kangaroos might try to drown your dog. Here's why.

Mick Moloney was walking on the banks of the Murray River in northwestern Victoria, Australia, when he noticed his dog Hutchy was missing. He glanced toward the water and saw a kangaroo standing waist-deep in the river with its arms submerged. Next thing you know, Hutchy came up gasping for...

Dec 1, 2023

Shimmering golden mole thought extinct photographed and filmed over 80 years after last sighting

A golden mole that has not been seen for over 80 years has been rediscovered in sand dunes in South Africa. The blind animal was filmed and photographed after an extensive search for the species, which researchers feared was extinct. De Winton's golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni) is an elusive blind...

Dec 12, 2023

Some female meerkats have a brutal, bloodthirsty streak, and now we may know why

Meerkats may look cute, but the dominant females are notoriously deadly and will kill female relatives and eat their offspring to suppress reproduction and eliminate future competition. Now, scientists may finally know what helps these murderous matriarchs become dominant — and stay on top. In a new preprint study posted...

Dec 23, 2023

Tufted ground squirrel: The Borneo rodent once believed to disembowel deer and feast on their organs

Name: Tufted ground squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis) Where it lives: On the ground and low branches of hilly forests in Borneo What it eats: Extremely hard seeds from a handful of tree species Why it's awesome: Rumor has it that tufted ground squirrels, nicknamed vampire squirrels in a 2014 Science article,...

Mar 26, 2021

Prime numbers protect Brood X cicadas from everything but zombie fungus

After spending 17 years underground, trillions of cicadas will emerge this spring to creak out their ear-splitting mating songs and litter tree trunks with their eerie molted skin. It's weird enough that Brood X, as this enormous influx of cicadas is known, somehow manages to emerge all at the same...

Mar 29, 2021

What are Brood X cicadas?

Every 17 years, the billions of periodical cicadas that make up Brood X turn their attention from tree roots to the sky. In the spring of 2021, after nearly two decades of development underground, the insects are ready to dig their way out of the earth across the eastern United...

May 20, 2021

Finding those delightful Brood X cicadas: Here's how

Something incredible is happening right now that takes place just once every 17 years: Brood X cicada nymphs are wriggling out of the soil to climb the nearest trees, where they will transform into red-eyed, black-bodied adult cicadas by the billions. If you live in the eastern United States, you're...

May 22, 2021

Some Brood X cicadas will be sex-crazed zombies with disintegrating butts

All Brood X cicadas want to do is mate and die in peace — is that so much to ask? Unfortunately, a number of the now-emerging cicadas may instead find themselves the victims of a zombifying fungus that transforms their butts into spore-shedding fungal gardens. For the past 17 years,...