Biology

Apr 13th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Scientists have identified the genetic changes that helped tree-dwelling snakes to evolve longer tails across multiple lineages. The finding shows that similar DNA modifications repeatedly reshaped snake bodies in response to life in trees. Clues from snake bodies Across 323 snakes from 110 species, the clearest pattern of longer tails appeared in species that live primarily in trees. By comparing these species, Jia-Tang Li at the Chengdu Institute of Biology ( CIB ) ... [Read More]

Apr 13th, 2026 - A massive study of zoo animals proves our supposedly peaceful ape cousins are hiding a dark side. A new  study  of our two closest living relatives finds that, at least in zoos, bonobos may not be more peaceful than chimpanzees. Bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) are only found south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where food is abundant and evenly distributed. Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) range across West, Central and East Africa, where food can be variable and ... [Read More]

Apr 13th, 2026 - In newly released images, a rare "cloud jaguar" slinks through dense foliage of the jungle-covered Sierra del Merendón mountains in Honduras. The sighting offers a sliver of hope for the imperiled big cat , which is struggling to survive across its range in North and South America, largely because of a combination of habitat loss and poaching . As farmland, deforestation and human development have fractured its habitat, the jaguar lost as much as an estimated 25 percent of its adult ... [Read More]

Apr 13th, 2026 - By When it comes to creative survival tactics in the animal kingdom, few creatures can compete with a small, spiky reptile that weaponizes its own blood. The greater short-horned lizard ( ) — Wyoming's state reptile — possesses one of nature's most bizarre defense mechanisms. When threatened, it can shoot a pressurized stream of blood directly from its eyes. One 2024 study from the Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering found that it can hit targets up to about one ... [Read More]

Apr 13th, 2026 - A stunning Chinese fossil site pushes the origins of complex animals back millions of years. If you trace the animal family tree back through the fossil record, the trail usually goes cold about 539 million years ago. Before this boundary—the start of the famous Cambrian explosion—multicelled life was typically confined to the oceans, which left no obvious modern descendants. But a deposit of rocks in southwestern China has now yielded the remains of hundreds of complex animals ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - Set in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, Shamwari Private Game Reserve has sublime scenery as a backdrop to each game sighting. The Bushman's River flows through the Reserve, providing a riparian zone for waterbirds, hippos and a profusion of plant species. With five separate biomes, the panoramic ecosystem - ever-changing on a game drive or bush walk - displays a variety of trees, bushes, succulents and grasslands where an abundance of flowers peep through, adding splashes of colour. The ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - This article originally appeared on The Conversation North America's bee populations are in trouble, but don't blame the honey bees. While some people argue that an overabundance of managed honey bees – those raised to help pollinate crops and produce honey – is causing native bees to disappear, the evidence doesn't support the claim. What is true is that populations of many species of bees, including honey bees, are struggling. Half of all honey bee colonies die every winter in the ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - 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. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - Here's how to discourage snakes from hanging out in your yard. Whether you're frightened or fascinated by them, snakes have important roles in your garden, eating insects and keeping mice , vole, and rabbit populations in check. They also serve as prey for other predators, such as hawks. But probably the most important thing to know is that they're not at all interested in you . "Snakes generally are harmless to us," says John C. Maerz, PhD, of the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google A newly described frog from Ecuador's eastern Andes possesses a scarlet belly unlike anything seen in its close spiny relatives. That burst of color turns a species description into a puzzle, because no one yet knows why the females flash such vivid red. Encounters at high altitude Night searches in wet grass and ferns near 10,000 feet kept revealing small frogs perched just above the ground. From those sightings, Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig recognized an animal that had ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google When Earth faced its worst mass extinction 252 million years ago, survival was anything but guaranteed. The planet turned hot, dry, and unstable, and most species simply could not adapt to the rapid changes. But one animal stood out. Lystrosaurus , a small plant eater, not only survived but became one of the most common land animals of its time. Scientists have long wondered how it managed to thrive in such a harsh world – and a new discovery may finally provide the ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Scientists have named a tree from one Panamanian mountainside as a new species and classified it as critically endangered. The sequence of discovery followed immediately by decline shows the species has been disappearing faster than scientists could formally recognize it. Discovery on a lone mountainside On Cerro Colorado in western Panama, plant collections curated nearly 25 years apart kept pointing to one overlooked tree. While analyzing the specimens, Jorge Aranda at ... [Read More]

Apr 10th, 2026 - Oldest octopus fossil found to not be an octopus  Supposed "first octopus" was something else entirely. Pohlsepia mazonensis, a visually underwhelming fossil from Illinois, fundamentally broke our understanding of cephalopod evolution. Described in 2000 and hailed as the oldest known octopus in the fossil record, the specimen dated back to the late Carboniferous period, roughly 311 to 306 million years ago. Pohlsepia was an outlier—all other fossil records strongly suggested that ... [Read More]

Apr 9th, 2026 - The worlds rarest big cat was making a miracle comeback until a devastating new war hit Iran. Before the war began in February 2026, there was some rare good  news  for Iran's imperiled Asiatic cheetahs. Rangers spotted and  filmed  a female in the North Khorasan province accompanied by five cubs — a first. No more than four had ever been seen before, and every individual counts. The Asiatic cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus venaticus ) is the world's most endangered big cat, ... [Read More]

Apr 9th, 2026 - Amid the lush greenery, hundreds of the endangered primates groom, play, forage and interact.  Their contact with human beings is minimal. There are no cities bordering their forest habitat. Even so, their remote home became the scene of a primitive "civil war" — one that dramatically changed their group. It quickly turned lethal. The schism in their community has been documented for the first time in a new report published by a team of researchers based out of the University of ... [Read More]

Apr 8th, 2026 - A decline in ancient megafauna in the Middle East coincided with a shift towards smaller, lighter toolkits in the archaeological record – though scientists are still in debate about why A drop in the number of huge animals 200,000 years ago may have forced ancient humans to abandon heavy-duty stone tools in favour of lightweight toolkits to hunt smaller animals. That's according to a new study that supports the idea that switching to smaller prey may have boosted our ancestors' ... [Read More]