zoology

I find much to like about house wrens, including their scientific name: Troglodytes aedon.  It's very appropriate for this vigorous singer and cavity nester. Troglodyte is from the Greek for "hole or cave dweller," while aedon, also Greek in ...

A critically endangered western lowland gorilla has given birth to a baby boy via caesarean section at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, in what is believed to be only the twelfth time such a procedure has been carried out on the species. Olympia, a 29-year-old gorilla weighing approximately 90kg, delivered the 5.4lb infant last month with the assistance of a combined team of human and veterinary medi…

Parrots may be doing more than just repeating words—they may actually use names. By analyzing hundreds of recordings from pet parrots, researchers found evidence that many birds use specific names to identify particular people, animals, and even individual companions. Some parrots appeared to refer to someone who wasn’t present, while others used names in creative ways, such as saying their own n…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 14 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-57654-4 Digit-tracking reveals curiosity-driven visual attention in macaque monkeys

Hundreds of birdwatchers have flocked to Wales after a "mega rare" bird appeared in the UK for the first time. Ornithologist Simon Hugheston-Roberts made the historic identification of the western reef heron, a species normally found along coastal areas from West Africa through to India, at Y Foryd in Caernarfon, North Wales. He made the discovery at approximately 10am on Saturday morning while d…

For years, a mysterious predator haunted the fossil beds of Changma Basin in northwest China....

Four-ton Paige, brought in as surprise for attenders, made gushing debut after governor finished keynote speech An African elephant weighing roughly 4 tons that was brought to the Texas Republican party’s annual convention to excite attenders ended up drawing widespread attention for the wrong reasons after she urinated on the convention floor and became the focus of animal welfare concerns. Insi…

Did you find the two California toads in this morning’s photo? Here’s Robert Lang’s reveal:

Hertfordshire Zoo has achieved a remarkable second consecutive breeding success with its rare black and rufous sengi, commonly known as elephant shrews. The twin pups arrived on April 22 to parents Nuru and Mala, just months after the pair produced the first-ever UK-born litter of this unusual African species in March. Weighing merely 30 grams at birth — equivalent to a standard first-class lette…

Yesterday I planned a full day of reading and writing for a project I’m working on, but was interrupted three times for duckling rescues, so in terms of “professional” work, I got nothing done. In terms of waterfowl work, I—with the help of others—did rescue eight stranded ducklings who would otherwise have died.  I suppose … Continue reading A hard day: three duckling rescues

Today we have another “spot the” feature from Robert Lang, whose commentary is indented below.  Spot the two frogs! There will be a reveal at 11 a.m. Chicago time. The last two days on early-morning hikes, I’ve encountered literally dozens of tiny frogs hopping across the trail—so many that I had to watch my step … Continue reading Spot the toads!

A newly discovered feathered dinosaur from China may help solve a long-standing mystery surrounding a fossil bed filled with ancient bird remains. For years, one fossil site in northwestern China has posed a mystery. The area contains hundreds of fossilized birds, many remarkably well preserved. Mixed among them are strange clusters of shattered bones compressed [...]

Appearance of a western reef heron in north Wales is unlikely to be the last, as heating temperatures mean species can survive Britain’s winter, say experts It is a tropical bird typically encountered between west Africa and India, but last week a western reef heron arrived in north Wales in what is believed to be the first ever sighting in the UK. The heron was first spotted in Foryd Bay at the …

Two of these mysterious sharks were recorded by deep-sea submersibles The post Goblin Sharks Caught on Camera in Their Natural Habitat for the First Time appeared first on Nautilus .

You might think birds skimming over the ocean wouldn’t seek wind unless it was pushing them in the right direction, but NASA-funded researchers have learned that storm petrels find stiff crosswinds worth the slowdown, in return for the clues and cues the gusts carry. In a paper published by the Royal Society’s Biology Letters May 13, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) an…

The humble bird may help scientists understand how experts learn to see disease.

Among the strangest animals in the ocean, this rarely seen shark has long remained out of reach. New observations have finally brought it into view.

Voilà: my last batch of photos, this time a small selection from Norm Gilinsky, including two species we have in Botany Pond.  Norm’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. All of these photos were taken with an ordinary iPhone on June 1 on the eastern shore of Lake … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos