Excavators unearth a 13,600-year-old mastodon skull from an Iowa creek. University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist hide caption
Animals Animals
Animals
Invasive cane toads like this one have fanned out across Australia, killing numerous predators in their wake, including freshwater crocodiles. Joshua Prieto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
Saving freshwater crocodiles — by teaching them to not eat poisonous toads
This Artibeus fruit bat feasts on sugary fruit every night but these winged mammals don’t suffer from diabetes or other metabolic problems as humans might if we were to gorge on sugar. Luis Echeverría for NPR hide caption
Certain bats have no health issues with sugar. Can bats teach us about diabetes?
A Burmese python is held during a safe capture demonstration at a media event for the 2022 Florida Python Challenge on June 16, 2022, in Miami. Lynne Sladky/AP hide caption
Unlike most other ants that prefer sticking to cozy places like decaying leaves or logs, the ManhattAnt seems comfortable out on busy sidewalks. Ellen van Wilgenburg hide caption
Researchers glued cameras and tracking instruments to small pieces of neoprene, that they then glued to the fur of the sea lions Nathan Angelakis hide caption
Scientists attach video cameras to sea lions to map the ocean floor
Giant panda Xin Bao is seen in her Panda Ridge habitat at the San Diego Zoo on Wednesday, one day before the bear and a male, Yun Chuan, were due to go on display. The pandas arrived at the end of June. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption
Researchers found that cats showed signs of grief, such as eating and playing less, after a fellow pet had died. Getty Images hide caption
A whale breaches as Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb (left) and Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy compete in the women's surfing semifinals on Monday. Jerome Brouillet/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pictured in May, released a video over the weekend recounting a 2014 incident in which he dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park to make it look like it had been in a bike crash. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
Edith Bouvier Beale at her home "Grey Gardens" in January 1972 in New York. A 1975 documentary by that name explores the reclusive lives of Beale and her mother, living in their dilapidated house with over 50 cats. Tom Wargacki/WireImage hide caption
There are over eight hundred species of leeches, but researchers estimate that only ten percent of all leeches are terrestrial. Auscape/Contributor/Getty Images hide caption
Two chimpanzees groom each other — a behavior that can involve several gestures. Anup Shah/Getty Images hide caption
A bipartisan bill seeks to ban octopus farming in the U.S., outlawing a practice that has drawn controversy in Spain. Here, an octopus is seen at the Oceanopolis sea center in Brest, western France. Fred Tanneau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Project RattleCam lets people observe rattlesnakes with a live webcam. Scott Boback hide caption
A cuttlefish swims on seagrass. Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their bodies. cinoby/Getty Images hide caption
Dancing yeti crabs, morphing cuttlefish, other stories from the deep sea
This photo, provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society, shows a Matschie's tree kangaroo joey that made its first appearance from its mother's pouch at New York's Bronx Zoo, last Thursday. The joey, born at the end of December, is the second of its species born at the Bronx Zoo and to this female since 2021. Terria Clay/Wildlife Conservation Society/AP hide caption
Study participant Freddie sits next to a jar with an odor sample, then approaches a bowl to check for a treat. University of Bristol hide caption
This northern ghost bat (Diclidurus albus) was a special, rare find for the bat scientists gathered in Belize. “It was magical,” says evolutionary biologist Jasmin Camacho.
Luis Echeverría for NPR
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Crows can be trained to count out loud much in the way that human toddlers do, a study finds. Andreas Nieder/Universal Images Group Editorial hide caption
Synchronous fireflies, known as Photuris frontalis, blink in the woods near the Congaree River on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Sam Wolfe for NPR hide caption
Tom Waddington, who is rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, filmed an hours-long encounter with what he believes were long-finned pilot whales. He enjoyed their visit — until one smacked into his small boat. @tomwaddington_skier hide caption
Cats scratching furniture may not be inevitable. Getty Images hide caption