Biology

Apr 24th, 2025 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . An almost overlooked fossil discovered in a Brazilian museum collection has revealed the oldest ant specimen known to science, according to new research. The prehistoric ant lived among dinosaurs 113 million years ago — several millennia before previously found ants — and had an unusual way to kill its prey. Anderson Lepeco, a researcher ... [Read More]

Apr 24th, 2025 - A giant "sea dragon" backbone plucked from a riverbank in Mississippi could belong to the largest mosasaur ever found in the state, scientists say. Researchers only found a single vertebra from the creature and aren't sure exactly how large the mosasaur was in total, but it is estimated to have been at least 30 feet (9 meters) long, Hattiesburg American reported. Mosasaurs, or "sea dragons," ruled the oceans when dinosaurs dominated the land towards the end of the Cretaceous period (145 million ... [Read More]

Apr 24th, 2025 - Females reign supreme in bonobo society by working together to keep males in their place. Male domination is the natural order of things, some people say. But bonobos, primates with whom we share nearly 99 percent of our DNA, beg to differ. Bonobos are great apes that live in female-dominated societies, a relative rarity among mammals, especially in species where males are the larger sex. While females are smaller than their male counterparts, they reign supreme in bonobo societies. Scientists ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - Looking again through the magnifying lens at the fossil's surface, one of us, Sabrina Curran , took a deep breath. Illuminated by a strong light positioned nearly parallel to the surface of the bone, the V-shaped lines were clearly there on the fossil . There was no mistaking what they meant. She'd seen them before, on bones that were butchered with stone tools about 1.8 million years ago , from a site called Dmanisi in Georgia. These were cut marks made by a human ancestor wielding a stone ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - What's happening DEA's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day: Join the Kissimmee Police Department for the opportunity to safely dispose of unneeded or expired medications and help prevent medication misuse. Note: No needles (used or unused) will be accepted. This event will take place in a convenient drive-thru format. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 26, Kissimmee Police Department, 8 N. Stewart Ave., Kissimmee, free, kissimmee.gov/events. Container Gardening – Community Garden Education ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - Step outside on a warm summer evening, and you'll likely notice something missing – fewer buzzing bees, fluttering butterflies, or humming beetles. Across the globe, insect numbers are crashing. These small creatures may not grab headlines like tigers or elephants, but they play vital roles in pollination, decomposition, and supporting ecosystems. Without them, life on Earth would unravel in quiet but devastating ways. The concern isn't new, but recent efforts to grasp the scale and ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - Giant kangaroos should have giant home ranges, but researchers were shocked to find that the largest of them all, Protemnodon , was a real homebody. Habitat, not body size was the key says lead researcher, Dr Chris Laurikainen Gaete, from the University of Wollongong. Protemnodon was a genus of the giant forest kangaroos that lived until about 40,000 years ago in Sahul, the super-continent comprising Papua New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania and the connecting land-bridges. These ancient ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . (CNN) — A massive, extinct reptile that once snacked on dinosaurs had a broad snout like an alligator's, but it owed its success to a trait that modern alligators lack: tolerance for salt water. Deinosuchus was one of the largest crocodilians that ever lived, with a body nearly as long as a bus and teeth the size of bananas. From about 82 ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2025 - Fossil teeth show species of protemnodon that roamed Australia between 5m and 40,000 years ago lived and died near Queensland caves Despite their immense size, species of prehistoric giant kangaroos from a site in Queensland were probably homebodies with a surprisingly small range compared with other kangaroos, according to new Australian research. Protemnodon, which lived on the Australian continent between 5m and 40,000 years ago, was significantly larger than its modern relatives. Some ... [Read More]

Apr 22nd, 2025 - Some people will tell you that the dire wolves are back, while others will tell you they are not. Colossal Biosciences kicked off an avalanche of media coverage, including both hype and harsh criticism, when the company said it brought back dire wolves, an extinct species given renewed popularity by its role in the Game of Thrones franchise, using gene-editing and cloning technology. We will discuss the details of what Colossal has accomplished, but this technology also raises a bigger question ... [Read More]

Apr 22nd, 2025 - UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences' Shermin de Silva has spent the majority of her scientific career studying elephants. An assistant professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, de Silva researches the ecology, social dynamics and communication of the massive endangered herbivores. She led a 2023 study indicating that the habitats of Asian elephants have shrunk by nearly two-thirds over the past 300 years. She is also the president and founder of Trunks & Leaves, a ... [Read More]

Apr 22nd, 2025 - Fifteen years ago, a cold snap froze much of Florida's wildlife to death — including many of the state's invasive Burmese pythons ( Python bivittatus ). But in this excerpt from " Slither: How Nature's Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World " (Gand Central Publishing, 2025), science writer Stephen Hall reveals that a subset of these pythons were genetically predisposed to survive the cold, setting the stage for rapid evolution that could help the invasive snakes spread further into ... [Read More]

Apr 21st, 2025 - In the rugged landscapes of Canada's Rocky Mountains, researchers have identified a previously unknown butterfly species hiding in plain sight.  Long mistaken for the Half-moon Hairstreak ( Satyrium semiluna ), the butterflies found in the Blakiston Fan region have now been named Satyrium curiosolus , or the Curiously Isolated Hairstreak. This discovery reveals the species' unique evolutionary path, suggesting it has remained cut off from its closest relatives for tens of thousands of ... [Read More]

Apr 21st, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . science and culture for people who love beautiful writing. I t's an hour past sunset, and I'm alone atop a mountain in Southern California, surrounded by darkness. I'm fixated on a 5-gallon bucket, a halo of eerie blue light emanating from the top. A swarm of moths frantically pursues the light, completely entrancing me. This isn't some odd form of meditation—I'm an ecologist who studies pollinators. Many of these moths (around 60 percent of ... [Read More]

Apr 21st, 2025 - When a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named SuBastian dropped into the frigid waters near the South Sandwich Islands on March 9, the scientists watching the video feed expected fascinating footage of deep‑sea life. What they did not anticipate was history.  At roughly 600 meters (1,968 feet) below the surface, the ROV's cameras recorded a transparent juvenile colossal squid ( Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni ). This is the first time this legendary species has ever been observed alive in ... [Read More]

Apr 20th, 2025 - As the Trump administration slashes funding for health, energy and climate research, there's one science the administration is promoting: de-extinction. Earlier this month, a biotechnology company announced it had genetically engineered three gray wolf pups to have white hair, more muscular jaws and a larger build — characteristics of the dire wolf, a species that hasn't roamed the Earth for several millennia. Now, the Trump administration is citing the case of the dire wolf as it moves ... [Read More]