Hawk Raised by Bald Eagles
Nicknamed “Spunky,” the young hawk was spotted living in an eagle’s nest in June. Experts initially thought his chances for…
Do Bloodworms Bite?
The Brave Wilderness gets up close and personal some some really disgusting Bloodworms. Check out the video below to see…
Cephalopods: Nature’s camouflaging masters
When I was watching Finding Dory last weekend, one character caught my eye: Hank the octopus (or septopus—you will understand…
Key element of human language discovered in Australian bird
Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but a…
High-pitched sounds found to cause seizures in cats
Veterinary specialists in the UK have authored an intriguing paper regarding certain types of feline seizures, which appear to occur…
Opossum-based antidote to snake venom could save thousands of lives
A peptide found in opossums that can be manufactured easily could provide a novel and inexpensive antidote for venomous snake…
This is your brain on dogs
How closely does the relationship between people and their dogs mirror the parent-child relationship? A new study has been investigating…
Scientists uncover biggest-ever flying bird
The fossilized remains of an extinct giant bird with a wingspan of 24 feet place the creature above theoretical upper…
African music preferred by chimps
Chimpanzees like to listen to the different rhythms of music from Africa and India, but prefer silence to music from…
Domestication of dogs may explain success of early humans
A new analysis of European archaeological sites suggests that early modern humans working with the earliest domestic dogs were extremely…
New type of avian flu found in Antarctic penguins
An international team of researchers has identified a previously unknown avian influenza virus in a group of Adelie penguins from…
Camouflage or bright colors? What’s better to live long and prosper?
In nature, bright colors are signals that scream, “Don’t eat me!” But how did prey species evolve these characteristics? Now,…
Bees using scavenged plastic to build hives
The scientists who discovered that urban bees are using plastic bags and building sealant to construct hives say it demonstrates…
Testosterone enhances desire to sing, but not song quality
Scientists listening to the effects of testosterone on birdsong say their findings have broad implications for understanding how steroid use…
Loved-up bonobos stay young longer
Bonobos and chimpanzees are closely related but bonobos lack of aggression, playfulness, and strong familial ties make them very different…
Read my skin: chameleon color communication deciphered
Chameleons can change color to blend in with the environment, but biologists from Arizona State University now say that chameleons’…
Customizing animal scents to manipulate animal behaviors
Animals’ scent posts may seem to be simply stinky, but new molecular surveys show they actually convey a veritable encyclopedia…
Gay insects are just confused, say scientists
Homosexual behaviors in birds and mammals are thought to provide a number of evolutionary benefits, but scientists trying to find…
This bird sings Bach
U.S. and German researchers have found striking parallels between the music of Bach and Haydn and the songs of a…
Evidence for sonar contributing to mass whale strandings
For the first time, a mass stranding of marine mammals has been linked to the high-frequency sonar mapping systems used…
Parrots solve complex mechanical problems
Untrained parrots have been solving complex mechanical problems that involved undoing a series of locks one after another; impressive feats…
Stunning new species of palm-pitviper discovered
Herpetologists have identified a striking new species (Bothriechis guifarroi) of highly dangerous green palm-pitviper that lives within a cloud forest…
Madagascar’s dwarf lemurs shed light on tropical hibernation
Until recently, the only primate understood to hibernate as a survival strategy was a creature called the western fat-tailed dwarf…
Two-headed bull shark discovered
Marine researchers at Michigan State University have confirmed that the first-ever, two-headed bull shark to be discovered is a single…
Self-control makes cockatoos sophisticated traders
The ability to anticipate a delayed gain is considered cognitively challenging since it requires not only the capacity to control…
Gay animals an inconvenient truth for BBC, claims study
A new study in the European Journal of Cultural Studies criticizes wildlife documentaries produced by the BBC for ignoring widespread…
Mystery of extreme head-rotation in owls explained
Anatomical artists and neurological experts at Johns Hopkins have finally unravelled how night-hunting owls can almost fully rotate their heads…
Ancient mega-piranha had mega-bite
University of Washington (UW) researchers say Megapiranha paranensis, a prehistoric relative of piranhas weighing about 20 pounds, delivered a bite…
Three new species of venomous loris identified
University of Missouri researchers recently identified three new species of slow loris (Nycticebus sp.)that had originally been mistakenly grouped with…