Animals: News, feature and articles | Live Science (original) (raw)
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We live on a planet with millions of species of animals -and a rich, diverse collection of known wildlife, and yet new species are being identified seemingly every day — both living and extinct.
Whether it’s the deadliest snakes, longest-living creatures or the history of the dinosaurs, at Live Science, our expert writers are here to help you understand Earth's incredible fauna — past and present — with the latest animal news, features and articles.
Editor's Picks
'Closer than people think': Woolly mammoth 'de-extinction' is nearing reality — and we have no idea what happens next Latest about Animals
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Cantor's giant softshell turtle: The frog-faced predator that spends 95% of its time completely motionless By Lydia Smith Published 16 November 24 -
35,000-year-old saber-toothed kitten with preserved whiskers pulled from permafrost in Siberia By Sascha Pare Published 15 November 24 -
World's biggest coral — so big it can be seen from space — discovered by chance off Solomon Islands By Jacklin Kwan Published 15 November 24 -
Teeny tardigrades can survive space and lethal radiation. Scientists may finally know how. By Sharmila Kuthunur Published 13 November 24 -
Mammoth quiz: Test your knowledge of the ice age beasts By Sascha Pare Published 13 November 24 -
Smarter dogs have smaller brains, surprising study reveals By Olivia Ferrari Published 13 November 24 -
Glowing mystery sea slug that feeds like a Venus fly trap captured in deep sea footage for 1st time By Melissa Hobson Published 13 November 24
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Amphibians
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'It's risky for male frogs out there': Female frog drags and attempts to eat screaming male By Jacklin Kwan Published 23 July 24 -
'Lovely freak of nature': Mutant blue frog hops into wildlife sanctuary workshop By Sascha Pare Published 15 July 24 -
'Kermit the Frog' creature that lived 270 million years ago looked like a 'stout salamander' with 'cartoonish' grin By Jennifer Nalewicki Published 22 March 24 -
Why is a mushroom growing on a frog? Scientists don't know, but it sure looks weird By Elise Poore Published 21 February 24 -
Dinosaur-era frog found fossilized with belly full of eggs and was likely killed during mating By Jacklin Kwan Published 7 February 24 -
Annual cane toad kill-a-thon is about to start in Australia. Here's how to eliminate the pests humanely. By Sascha Pare Published 11 January 24 -
World's tiniest fanged frog with males that 'hug' their babies discovered By Emma Bryce Published 11 January 24 -
Paradoxical frog: The giant tadpole that turns into a little frog By Megan Shersby Published 30 December 23 -
Toxic pigment that causes red hair discovered in 10 million-year-old frog fossil By Jennifer Nalewicki Published 18 October 23
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Arachnids
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Three remarkable spiders: A vegetarian, a vampire and a predator that uses 'pincer, fork and key' By Ximena Nelson Published 21 September 24 -
REFERENCEWolf spiders: Behavior, bites and other facts By Jessie Szalay Last updated 17 September 24 -
We now know why tarantulas are hairy — to stop army ants eating them alive By Patrick Pester Published 4 September 24 -
Brazilian wandering spiders: Bites & other facts By Jessie Szalay Last updated 28 May 24 -
ReferenceGiant huntsman spider: The world's largest spider by leg span By Jessie Szalay Last updated 22 May 24 -
ReferenceBrown recluse spiders: Facts, bites & symptoms By Laura Geggel Last updated 5 March 24 -
Giant, invasive Joro spiders with 6-foot webs could be poised to take over US cities, scientists warn By Harry Baker Published 19 February 24 -
Diving bell spider: The only aquatic arachnid that creates a web underwater to live in By Megan Shersby Published 10 February 24 -
Deadly male funnel-web spider 'Hercules' breaks record as biggest ever discovered By Stephanie Pappas Published 8 January 24
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Birds
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Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand? By Elise Poore Published 10 November 24 -
Mice on remote island that eat albatrosses alive sentenced to death by 'bombing,' scientists decree By Patrick Pester Published 29 August 24 -
Meet 'small diver': One of the tiniest penguins ever discovered By Patrick Pester Published 2 August 24 -
Nearly half a million 'invasive' owls, including their hybrid offspring, to be killed by US By Harry Baker Published 19 July 24 -
Reference12 of the biggest birds on Earth By Scott Dutfield Last updated 14 June 24 -
Crows can count out loud, startling study reveals By Ben Turner Published 24 May 24 -
32 of the most colorful birds on Earth By Sascha Pare Published 11 May 24 -
East Africa's Lake Nakuru almost doubled in size in 13 years — and that's bad news for flamingos By Aidan Byrne Published 19 April 24 -
World's oldest wild bird is 'actively courting' after losing long-term mate By Sascha Pare Published 17 April 24
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Cnidaria
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Watch 'spaghetti monster' with dozens of pink-tipped sausage legs swimming near Nazca Ridge By Sascha Pare Published 11 September 24 -
Otherworldly video captures rare jellyfish with a hitchhiker in its bell By Elise Poore Published 27 July 24 -
Newly discovered jellyfish is a 24-eyed weirdo related to the world's most venomous marine creature By Sascha Pare Published 25 April 23 -
Alien-like giant phantom jellyfish spotted in frigid waters off Antarctica By Patrick Pester Published 27 February 23 -
Thousands of cannonball jellyfish wash ashore after swarming North Carolina’s Outer Banks By Jennifer Nalewicki Published 18 October 22 -
Thousands of jellyfish swarm near Israel, mesmerizing images reveal By Jamie Carter Published 2 August 22 -
Largest crown jellyfish ever discovered is a blood red, saucer-like weirdo By Brandon Specktor Published 21 April 22 -
Scientists inserted disco 'strobe lights' into jellyfish to see how they function without brains By Nicoletta Lanese Published 6 December 21 -
Giant 'phantom jellyfish' that eats with mouth-arms spotted off California coast By Ben Turner Published 2 December 21
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Crustaceans
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1-in-100 million 'cotton candy' lobster caught off New Hampshire alive and well at aquarium By Tiffany Taylor Published 13 August 24 -
'You can see its guts and things': Weird see-through crustacean with giant eyes discovered off the Bahamas By Melissa Hobson Published 23 January 24 -
Crabs keep evolving to go from the sea to the land — and back again By Carys Matthews Published 15 November 23 -
More than 10 billion snow crabs starved to death off the coast of Alaska. But why? By Sascha Pare Published 19 October 23 -
'Hauntingly beautiful' image of a golden horseshoe crab wins wildlife photography competition By Sascha Pare Published 12 October 23 -
Hoff crab: The hairy-chested crustacean that farms bacteria on its hairs By Megan Shersby Published 9 September 23 -
Pom pom crab: The crustacean that uses anemones as boxing gloves By Hannah Osborne Published 12 August 23 -
Watch cannibal crab gobble up baby crablets in Australia in David Attenborough's 'Our Planet II' By Hannah Osborne Published 13 June 23 -
Why do animals keep evolving into crabs? By Laurel Hamers Published 29 May 23
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Extinct Species
- 35,000-year-old saber-toothed kitten with preserved whiskers pulled from permafrost in Siberia By Sascha Pare Published 15 November 24
- Mammoth quiz: Test your knowledge of the ice age beasts By Sascha Pare Published 13 November 24
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Cretaceous 'Pompeii' of China isn't what we thought By Jacklin Kwan Published 8 November 24 -
Armored dinosaur could withstand the impact of a high-speed car crash, thanks to the 'bulletproof vest' over its plate armor By Sierra Bouchér Published 7 November 24 -
A giant crocodilian killed the largest 'terror bird' ever found, 12 million years ago By Sierra Bouchér Published 6 November 24 -
Oldest tadpole on record was a Jurassic giant By Sierra Bouchér Published 30 October 24 -
Predatory birds from the Jurassic may have driven cicada evolution for millions of years By Sierra Bouchér Published 25 October 24 -
'It was clearly a human assault on the species': The fate of the great auk By Alexander McNamara Published 22 October 24 -
80 million-year-old dinosaur 'mini eggs' unearthed at Chinese construction site are the smallest ever found — and belong to a never-before-seen T. rex relative By Harry Baker Published 22 October 24
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Fish
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Incredibly rare, ghostly white shark discovered off Albania By Melissa Hobson Published 7 November 24 -
380 million-year-old remains of giant fish found in Australia. Its 'living fossil' descendant, the coelacanth, is still alive today. By Richard Cloutier Published 2 November 24 -
Northern sea robin: The bizarre fish with crab legs it uses to taste the seafloor By Hannah Osborne Published 2 November 24 -
Stunning video shows sharks devouring sea urchins, spines and all By Jeremy Day Published 6 October 24 -
Alligator gar: The 'living fossil' that has barely evolved for 100 million years By Melissa Hobson Published 5 October 24 -
How did sharks become Earth's 'ultimate survivors'? Paleontologist John Long finds answers in new book 'The Secret History of Sharks' By Patrick Pester Published 25 September 24 -
Angular roughshark: The pig-faced shark that grunts when captured By Lydia Smith Published 14 September 24 -
Watch baby Japanese eel escape from stomach of predator in X-ray video By Melissa Hobson Published 11 September 24 -
Giant oarfish: The 'doomsday' fish of legend that supposedly foreshadows earthquakes By Melissa Hobson Published 7 September 24
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Insects
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Plastic-eating mealworms native to Africa discovered By Jacklin Kwan Published 12 November 24 -
Watch mesmerizing video of weird waves that 'shape life itself' inside a fly embryo By Hannah Osborne Published 17 September 24 -
Parasitic 'horror' wasp that bursts from a fly's abdomen like an 'Alien' xenomorph discovered in Mississippi backyard By Patrick Pester Published 13 September 24 -
Kamikaze termites blow themselves up with 'explosive' backpacks — and scientists just figured out how By Jacklin Kwan Published 3 September 24 -
These bacteria trigger a sex change in wasps — scientists finally know how By Tiffany Taylor Published 26 July 24 -
Panda ant: The wasps whose black and white females have giant stingers and parasitic babies By Lydia Smith Published 13 July 24 -
Ants perform life saving operations — the only animal other than humans known to do so By Jacklin Kwan Published 2 July 24 -
Butterflies cross Atlantic ocean on 2,600-mile non-stop flight never recorded in any insect before By Ben Turner Published 26 June 24 -
Scientists discovered the oldest termite mounds on Earth — and they're 34,000 years old By Kristel Tjandra Published 25 June 24
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Land Mammals
- Smarter dogs have smaller brains, surprising study reveals By Olivia Ferrari Published 13 November 24
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Vampire bats have a really strange way of getting energy, scientists discover after putting them on treadmills By Elise Poore Published 12 November 24 -
We finally know why dogs shake when they're wet By Stephanie Pappas Published 8 November 24 -
Cats are better at word association than human babies are, study finds By Victoria Atkinson Published 6 November 24 -
Polar bears are getting horrific injuries and huge 'ice balls' on their paws because of climate change, researchers say By Sascha Pare Published 25 October 24 -
New DNA findings shed light on Tsavo's infamous man-eating lions By Elise Poore Published 11 October 24 -
Why do cats 'chatter'? By Victoria Atkinson Published 7 October 24 -
'The simplicity of life just hits you': Watch rare footage of critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla feeding her baby in the wild By Hannah Osborne Published 2 October 24 -
'All it takes is a predator to learn that children are easier prey': Why India's 'wolf' attacks may not be what they seem By Patrick Pester Published 20 September 24
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Marine Mammals
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Mysterious sound coming from the Mariana Trench has finally been explained By Harry Baker Published 19 September 24 -
Sexually frustrated dolphin behind spate of attacks on humans off Japan By Patrick Pester Published 6 September 24 -
Boat-ramming orcas may be using yachts as target practice toys, scientists suggest By Melissa Hobson Published 4 September 24 -
Watch heartbreaking footage of humpback whale with missing tail in Washington state By Elise Poore Published 15 August 24 -
2 young orcas ram sailboat off northern France — 800 miles from 'attack' hotspot By Sascha Pare Published 19 July 24 -
Ultra-rare whale never seen alive washes up on on New Zealand beach — and scientists could now dissect it for the 1st time By Harry Baker Published 19 July 24 -
Rabid seals are attacking people in South Africa By Sascha Pare Published 16 July 24 -
Entire pod of 89 pilot whales dies on Scottish beach in freak mass stranding By Sascha Pare Published 12 July 24 -
Orcas are eating sharks in the Gulf of California — and it may be happening more than we think, experts say By Melissa Hobson Published 18 June 24
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Mollusks
- Glowing mystery sea slug that feeds like a Venus fly trap captured in deep sea footage for 1st time By Melissa Hobson Published 13 November 24
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Watch extremely rare footage of a bigfin squid 'walking' on long, spindly arms deep in the South Pacific By Sascha Pare Published 26 September 24 -
Pacific geoduck: The large, phallic clam that can live longer than 165 years By Lydia Smith Published 3 August 24 -
Never-before-seen vampire squid species discovered in twilight zone of South China Sea By Richard Pallardy Published 4 July 24 -
Rare video shows elusive deep-sea squid cradling her gigantic, translucent eggs By Kristel Tjandra Published 17 June 24 -
Elusive 'octopus squid' with world's largest biological lights attacks camera in striking new video By Elise Poore Published 30 May 24 -
Watch female octopus drag male around during sex in rare footage captured off Indonesian island By Hannah Osborne Published 16 April 24 -
Blue dragon: The deadly sea slug that steals venom from its prey By Melissa Hobson Published 6 April 24 -
Oldest known sex chromosome emerged 248 million years ago in an octopus ancestor By Stephanie Pappas Published 8 March 24
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Reptiles
- Cantor's giant softshell turtle: The frog-faced predator that spends 95% of its time completely motionless By Lydia Smith Published 16 November 24
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Gharial: The prehistoric crocodilian that buzzes and blows bubbles to find a mate By Melissa Hobson Published 9 November 24 -
King cobra mystery that's puzzled scientists for 188 years finally solved By Elise Poore Published 8 November 24 -
Crocodile quiz: Test your knowledge on the prehistoric predators By Hannah Osborne Published 6 November 24 -
Scientists to read Cassius the giant crocodile's bones to find out exactly how old he was when he died By Melissa Hobson Published 5 November 24 -
Cassius, the world's biggest captive crocodile, may have been over 120 years old when he died By Melissa Hobson Published 4 November 24 -
'Truly primal': Watch Burmese python swallow deer whole in Florida Everglades by stretching its mouth to the absolute limit By Hannah Osborne Published 24 October 24 -
Short-horned lizard: The inflatable 'horny toad' that squirts toxic blood from its eyes By Lydia Smith Published 19 October 24 -
'Scuba-diving' lizards breathe underwater by wearing air bubbles on their noses — just like in a cartoon By Elise Poore Published 23 September 24
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More about Animals
- Glowing mystery sea slug that feeds like a Venus fly trap captured in deep sea footage for 1st time By Melissa Hobson Published 13 November 24
- Vampire bats have a really strange way of getting energy, scientists discover after putting them on treadmills By Elise Poore Published 12 November 24
- Plastic-eating mealworms native to Africa discovered By Jacklin Kwan Published 12 November 24
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