Biology

Nov 14th, 2025 - Reading time 2 minutes Partula snails are a family of fingernail-sized mollusks native to French Polynesia. For a long time, these critters were both scientifically and culturally significant to researchers and the native (human) population—the reason their near extinction in the late 20th century set off a global, systematic project to bring them back. So far, 2025 has been a great year for Partula snails. In spring, a subspecies of the family was reclassified from Extinct-in-the-Wild to ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google A palm-sized jaw tip from north of Uberaba, Minas Gerais, has been identified as a new species of pterosaur, Galgadraco zephyrius . The paper reports the first confirmed Brazilian azhdarchid and links it to a Romanian cousin. The animal lived near the end of the Cretaceous, between 70 and 67 million years ago. It likely spanned about 13 to 16 feet (4 to 5 meters) across the wings. Thus, it is considered a medium-to-large-sized azhdarchid, which is a pterosaur family with ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Giant North American "hell pigs" may have munched on bones around 30 million years ago, while their smaller counterparts ripped through softer material, like flesh, new research finds. The "hell pigs," scientifically known as Archaeotherium ("ancient beast" in Greek), were a group of pig-like ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - Reading time 3 minutes Extraction and sequencing of ancient DNA has revolutionized scientists' understanding of numerous extinct species, but DNA can only tell us so much. RNA, however, can tell us which genes were actually "turned on," offering unprecedented insight into the final moments of a deceased animal's life. The recent recovery of surprisingly ancient mammoth RNA does exactly that. The long-held belief that RNA is too fragile to survive even a few hours after death has discouraged ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - Researchers found that mouse behavior can evolve through microbes alone, not just DNA. When scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen set out to study how traits pass from one generation to another, they expected to find answers in genes. Instead, they found them in the gut. In a new study published in Nature Communications , Ruth Ley and her colleagues demonstrated that behavior—in this case, how "lazy" a mouse is—can be passed down through generations by the ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . T his is no dinosaur—this big, meat-eating lizard came before the dinos dominated. The latter half of the name of this newly designated species, Tainrakuasuchus bellator , translates from Latin to "warrior." It's a fitting name, given that T. bellator proved a fierce predator some 240 million years ago. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. This creature belonged to a branch of the tree of life that included other ancient precursors ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - Reading time 3 minutes Here's some important life advice: do not try to challenge a short-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala macrorhynchus) to a squid-eating contest. Research out today shows that these marine mammals can pack away hundreds of live calamari a day. For the first time ever, a large international team of researchers has quantified the diets of short-finned pilot whales living in the waters near Hawaii. They found that a single whale can consume up to 200 squid a day, while whales ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . S prinkled throughout Earth's oceans, thousands of underwater microphones record the sounds of the deep for commercial, military, and scientific purposes. This constellation of hydrophones captures a symphony of sound beneath the waves. The mechanized buzzing of ship engines, swooping whale song, the clicks and whoops of a coral reef ecosystem. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. But an array of three hydrophones in the ocean off of ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google A small venomous scorpionfish new to science, Phenacoscorpius trispinis , was recently discovered in Sagami Bay, Japan. It was hauled from about 525 feet during a routine line catch near Hayama. The species carries stiff fin spines and a compact body built for ambush. Its head armor and cheek spines mark it as different from known relatives. Bright orange scorpionfish Phenacoscorpius trispinis is known in English as the noslit scorpionfish. The common name points to a ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - A recent die-off in Florida puts the spotlight on corals' survival strategies. Scientists have found that the 2023 marine heat wave caused "functional extinction" of two Acropora reef-building coral species living in the Florida Reef, which stretches from the Dry Tortugas National Park to Miami. "At this point, we do not think there's much of a chance for natural recovery—their numbers are so low that successful reproduction is incredibly unlikely," said Ross Cunning, a coral biologist at ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Scientists report the discovery of a giant sauropod dinosaur, Tongnanlong zhimingi – Late Jurassic giant from southwestern China estimated at up to 92-feet-long. The fossil was found in Chongqing's Tongnan District, part of the Sichuan Basin, and comes from rocks laid down about 147 million years ago. Tongnanlong zhimingi is known from a holotype (the single name bearing reference specimen) with three back vertebrae, six tail vertebrae, a shoulder girdle, and ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - , the 501(c)(3) charitable organization associated with Colossal, the de-extinction company, today announced a $500,000, five-year commitment to the Turner Endangered Species Fund (TESF) to advance the recovery and rewilding of the Bolson tortoise ( Gopherus flavomarginatus ), North America's largest and rarest tortoise species, within its prehistoric range. Once widespread across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, the Bolson tortoise went extinct in the U.S. more than 10,000 ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Scientists documented a spiny dragon millipede mating on a cave wall in northern Thailand and confirmed it as a new species. The team reports at least a 10 percent DNA gap from close relatives.  The discovery comes from a 2024 biodiversity survey at Pha Daeng Cave in Mae Hong Son Province. The animal hugs humid rock surfaces and moves in tight crevices where moss keeps the stone damp. New member of Desmoxytes The work was led by Ruttapon Srisonchai, a biologist at ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Researchers have unearthed a giant "warrior" lizard that stalked Brazil 240 million years ago in the Triassic period, just before the dawn of the dinosaurs. The discovery fills in gaps in our understanding of the time before the dinosaurs dominated Earth, and further highlights the links ... [Read More]

Nov 11th, 2025 - Flinders University fossil experts have unearthed more clues about why kangaroos and wallabies have endured to become one of the continent's most prolific marsupial groups. They have analyzed the powerful limbs of Australia's earliest "true" kangaroo—the shared ancestor of modern-day kangaroos and wallabies. The paleontologists focused on the limb bones of the extinct Dorcopsoides fossilis, found only in the rich Alcoota fossil field in the southern Northern Territory. Lead investigator ... [Read More]

Nov 11th, 2025 - Scientists have unearthed Australia's oldest known crocodile eggshells which may have belonged to "drop crocs" - creatures that climbed trees to hunt prey below. The discovery of the 55-million-year-old eggshells was made in a sheep farmer's backyard in Queensland with the findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The egghells belonged to a long-extinct group of crocodiles known as mekosuchines, who lived in inland waters when Australia was part of Antarctica and South ... [Read More]