zoology

As bees and hummingbirds move from flower to flower collecting nectar and pollinating plants, they may also be consuming small amounts of alcohol. In the first large-scale study examining alcohol in floral nectar, biologists at the University of California, Berkeley detected ethanol in at least one flower sample from 26 of the 29 plant species [...]

Scientists have identified a new species of octopus dwelling in the deep ocean surrounding the Galápagos Islands, adding to the archipelago's renowned collection of unique wildlife. The small creature, roughly the size of a golf ball with distinctive blue-coloured skin, has been awarded the scientific name Microeledone galapagensis. Researchers published their findings in the scientific journal Z…

A calming diffuser, a built-in scratching post and more tools to persuade your cat to stop scratching your nicest couch Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things If I didn’t have two big, shedding cats , my couch would probably be intact. My floors would be free of spills. And my carpets wouldn’t have enough layers of caked-on fur to create the shell o…

New research led by scientists from the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) suggests cows (Bos taurus taurus) can distinguish between known and unknown people, and even match a familiar voice to the correct face. The post Cows Can Recognize Familiar Human Faces, New Study Finds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News .

The footage shows other sperm whales huddled around the mother, helping lift the newborn calf to the surface until it’s ready to swim.

Nature, Published online: 25 May 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01621-6 Billie Goolsby’s experience with hearing loss helped her to develop a robotic tadpole for deciphering the secret lives of amphibians.

A mysterious little blue octopus discovered nearly 6,000 feet beneath the waters of the Galápagos Islands has officially been identified as a brand-new species. About the size of a golf ball, the tiny creature stunned researchers during a deep-sea expedition when it suddenly appeared on camera, crawling across the ocean floor near an underwater mountain.

It’s tiny. It’s blue. And it has scientists awe-struck. A golf ball-size octopus found on the deep seafloor off the Galápagos Islands is an entirely new species, scientists just announced. In July of 2015, during a 10-day expedition in the Pacific Ocean, researchers aboard the E/V Nautilus launched a robotic sub called Hercules just off the coast of Darwin Island, part of the Galápagos archipelag…

The Tyrannosaurus rex is famous for many things—its enormous size, terrifying bite, and surprisingly tiny arms. For years, scientists have wondered why such a powerful predator evolved such small forelimbs. Now, a new study suggests the answer may lie in the dinosaur’s massive head. Researchers from University College London and University of Cambridge studied 82 […] The post Why T. rex Ended Up …

dc.title: Bufo (=Anaxyrus) speciosus (Texas Toad). Scavenged Carcass. dc.description: This video demonstrates behavior. Most videos in this collection have no audible language and for those that do, the language isn't necessary to understand the behavior. For that reason, transcripts are not provided.

California scientists discovered hybrid honeybees that may naturally repel one of the deadliest parasites threatening pollinators. Southern California is home to an unusual type of honeybee that may help researchers better understand how to protect struggling pollinators. Across the United States, commercial honeybee colonies are collapsing under pressure from deadly parasites, but this locally a…

On a cool April morning at the height of Washington, DC’s always brief spring, the science fiction novelist Ray Nayler and I found ourselves in a staring contest with the world’s heaviest flying bird. We were standing at the fenceline of the Kori bustard exhibit at Washington’s National Zoo when the largest of the already […]

This paper asks whether a single domestic cat, observed continuously since kittenhood, shows evidence of self-awareness. Rather than treating self-awareness as a single capacity that is either present or absent, I separate it into four layers: sentience, body self-awareness, theory of mind, and reflective self-recognition. Drawing entirely on naturally occurring behavior rather than staged experi…

In this week’s blog post, the old saying remains the same; we are products of our environments! From their paper: “Functional trait interactions in a human-dominated world: Urbanization and reproduction in Eurasian red squirrels”, author Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto examines reproductive behavioural traits in Eurasian red squirrels to understand how they have adapted from forest to urban landscapes. …

Research recently published in the Journal of Avian Biology takes an in-depth look at how crows see each other.

Nature Communications, Published online: 22 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73448-8 Ultraviolet light damages the eye, yet safe and effective sunscreens for the eye are lacking. Here the authors show that a modified PVA-syringaldehyde polymer provides high UV protection with minimal irritation, preserving retinal structure and vision in zebrafish and mouse models.

Researchers say species had finely serrated teeth and was formidable marine predator