Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 18, 2023

Last-known crocodile in Europe lived in Spain 4.5 million years ago, researchers say

Paleontologists in Spain have unearthed a 4.5 million-year-old tooth that likely belonged to one of the last crocodiles in Europe. The tooth is the only crocodilian fossil excavated from a site called Baza-1 in the southern province of Granada and indicates the predator looked similar to Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus)...

Dec 12, 2023

Pinky-white leucistic alligator with blue eyes born in Florida is 1 of only 8 in the world

An exceptionally rare light-pink alligator has been born at Gatorland, a wildlife park in Orlando, Florida. The female American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has a genetic condition known as leucism, which results from a mutation in the genes that leads to reduced pigment in feathers, hair or skin. Unlike albinism, which...

Jan 2, 2024

'Eyes coming straight for me': Huge crocodile launches itself into boat with jaws wide open in strange attack

A fisher experienced the shock of a lifetime when a large crocodile launched itself onto his boat with its jaws wide open in Australia. The incident occurred at Jane Creek — a stream northeast of Mackay in Queensland — on the morning of Dec. 31, 2023. The man was identified...

Jan 23, 2024

Alligators survive cold snap by becoming 'frozen solid' in North Carolina and Texas ponds

Alligators in North Carolina and Texas are surviving a cold snap by suspending their bodies in pond water and letting it freeze solid around them, videos show. Only their snouts and front teeth poke through the ice, allowing the alligators to breathe while they wait for the water to thaw....

Jul 11, 2007

'It is a Whopper:' Giant Squid on Beach

HOBART, Australia (AP) -- A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds washed up on an Australian beach, officials said Wednesday. “It is a whopper,'' said Genefor Walker-Smith, a zoologist who studies invertebrates at the Tasmanian Museum. Giant squid live in waters off southern Australia and New...

Jun 13, 2008

Scientists See Squid Attack Squid

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. It was like a scene from a grade-B horror film. On a gently rocking vessel in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez, a young oceanographer earnestly watches her computer screen while colleagues...

Dec 15, 2008

Future of Jumbo Squid Questioned

The effects of climate change on the ocean could squeeze the jumbo squid out of its habitat, a new study suggests. As carbon dioxide from power plants, automobiles and other sources has built up in Earth's atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, nearly half of it has been...

Jul 23, 2009

Jumbo Squid Scare Californians But Aren't Man-Eaters

Carnivorous jumbo squid have been washing up on San Diego beaches and swarming in Southern California's coastal waters, freaking out scuba divers and bathers this month, but a biologist now says these beasts are not man-eaters, despite concerns expressed in the media. Reports started coming in earlier in July that...

May 10, 2010

Colossal Squid Is No Monster, Study Finds

Measuring longer than a school bus and sporting tentacles covered in razor-sharp hooks, the colossal squid is the stuff of nightmares. However, new research suggests the enormous sea creature may not be the fierce hunter of legend. This finding not only upends science's understanding of the squid itself, but forces...

Jan 6, 2011

Ancient Squid-Like Creature's Last Meal Revealed

Millions of years ago, a squid-like creature called an ammonite died with the remains of its last meal wedged between its teeth. Now, new high-tech images reveal that meal — a mini-snail and three tiny crustaceans — and shed light on the diet of these once-common creatures. It gives us...

Feb 2, 2011

How Squid Hear: It's All in the Motion of the Ocean

Squid can hear, scientists have confirmed. But they don't detect the changes in pressure associated with sound waves, like we do. They have another, more primitive, technique for listening: They sense the motion generated by sound waves. They are detecting themselves moving back and forth with the sound wave, said...

Feb 10, 2011

This Pheromone Puts Squid in the Mood — To Fight

A newfound chemical drives male squid berserk, and the molecule appears similar to ones seen in humans, scientists now say. Future research might investigate whether comparable human semen proteins have similar effects, investigators added. Scientists investigated the longfin squid (Loligo pealeii), which live for nine to 12 months, usually mating...

Aug 9, 2011

Small Squid Have Bigger Sperm, But It's Not to Compensate

Among one species of squid, large males produce small sperm, meanwhile, small male squid have bigger swimmers. The differing sperm sizes are most likely the result of the two distinct strategies these males employ to mate with females, according to researchers. Large male squid, of the species Loligo bleekeri, called...

Sep 26, 2012

Scientists Reveal Vampire Squid's Strange Eating Habits

(ISNS) -- The sinisterly named vampire squid dwells in water far too harsh for any of its relatives. Now scientists find it survives there by feeding on unliving matter instead of live prey, unlike any known living squid or octopus. The creature's scientific name Vampyroteuthis infernalis, which means vampire squid...

Oct 2, 2012

Gallery: Vampire squid from hell

Vampire of the Deep (Image credit: Kim Reisenbichler © 2005 MBARI)Vampyroteuthis infernalis, literally vampire squid from hell, is a mysterious deep-sea species. Research published in September 2012 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals that these strange animals fish for ocean detritus using a long filament appendage,...