Animals
Giant rats could soon help sniff out illegally smuggled goods
African giant pouched rats can detect landmines and diseases. Now some have been trained to sense elephant ivory, pangolin scales and more.
Animals
More Stories in Animals
- Science & Society
The U.S. empire was built on bird dung
A mid-1850s act let the United States seize islands rich in bird guano. Those strategic outposts fueled the U.S. rise to power, a researcher says.
- Animals
The ‘Mekong ghost’ megafish has resurfaced after an extinction scare
Rediscovery of giant salmon carp in Cambodia sparks hope for the rare fish’s survival and efforts to conserve one of the greatest diversity hot spots.
- Life
How insects can help catch rhino poachers
A new study looks at which insects can be used as biological clocks to determine when a rhino was killed.
- Animals
Polar bears are being exposed to more pathogens as the climate warms
Polar bears have been exposed to more viruses, bacteria and parasites in recent decades, a new study shows, possibly acquiring the germs in their diet.
- Animals
Science has finally cracked male riflebirds’ flirty secrets
New video upsets the old notion that these birds of paradise use wing clapping to make percussive sounds while courting.
- Animals
At-home experiments shed light on cats’ liquid behavior
Cats can flow like liquids through tall crevices, but they solidify a bit as they approach short crannies, new research shows.
- Animals
DNA from old hair helps confirm the macabre diet of two 19th century lions
Genetic analysis of cavity crud from two famed man-eating lions suggests the method could re-create diets of predators that lived thousands of years ago.
- Paleontology
The largest arthropod to ever live finally has a head
Fossils of an extinct giant millipede reveal new details about the arthropod’s anatomy.
- Animals
To tell a right-trunked elephant from a lefty, check the wrinkles
Elephant trunks, more sci-fi face-tentacle than ho-hum mammal nose, are getting new scrutiny as researchers explore how the wrinkles grow.
