Young southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus obesulus), an endangered marsupial species living in outer Melbourne.
Sarah Maclagan
Endangered bandicoots have been found in the outskirts of Melbourne.
Thuwanan Krueabudda/Shutterstock.com
There’s plenty of evidence that modern swill-feeding would be safe, sustainable, and popular.
Whoosa vicious helpful predator? You are! Yes you are!
Sean Riley/Flickr
Dingoes increase cattle yields, mountain lions reduce car crashes and vultures eat organic waste: like them or not, predators help humans.
Great tit takes off.
IURII FEDOROV/Shutterstock
City living isn’t for everyone, but certain birds can prosper in the environment.
Pan having sex with a goat, statue from Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, 1752.
Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia
The vast discrepancy between abhorrence of bestiality and acceptance of slaughtering on animals suggests that thinking imaginatively about animal orgasm may help us to be more compassionate toward animals.
Dogs don’t follow the rules on larger animals living longer.
Cindy Zhi/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
Dogs don’t follow the rules on larger animals living longer. A 70kg Great Dane is lucky to reach seven years, but a 4kg Chihuahua can live for 10 years or more.
A shepherd with his flock in the Netherlands.
Peter Nicolai
Humans have long been trying differentiate themselves from the rest of the biological world. Is it because we’re superior, or just insecure?
A boobook enjoys its vantage point, courtesy of humans.
Simon Cherriman
From falcons that hunt by the light of skyscrapers, to bears that sit in wait at weirs, animals are using human structures to help them catch a meal.
Ocelot of trouble.
Mark Abrahams
Three researchers studied the “crop raiders” of the Brazilian rainforest in the hope of aiding both local farmers and wildlife conservation.
The echidna has a four-headed penis.
Shutterstock
The competition to father young is often most intense behind the scenes.
Shutterstock
Snakes have survived millions of years by using their bodies in increasingly creative ways.
What goes in must come out.
Sugiura & Sato, Kobe University
Meet the brawny bug with a concoction so caustic it’ll make a toad vomit.
CRS PHOTO/Shutterstock.com
How do different species have sex? Medieval illuminated manuscripts contain some surprisingly varied depictions.
We know that lots of animals, maybe all animals, sleep. Cats, dogs, even worms and jellyfish sleep. But we still don’t know exactly why they started sleeping.
Marcella Cheng/The Conversation
Pond snails use things like rocks or the side of their aquarium as their bed, attaching themselves while they sleep. This might not seem very relaxing but their shells do hang away from their body.
Mother love.
Shutterstock
Capuchin monkeys understand fairness, sheep recognise their friends, rats make sacrifices for buddies. Yes, animals are sentient. Here’s the science.
Super-black feathers on these guys are like looking into a dark cave.
Natasha Baucas
Male Birds of Paradise have patches of super-black plumage that absorb 99.95 percent of light. New research identified their feathers’ microscopic structures that make them look so very dark.
Where have all the hedgehogs gone?
shutterstock
Worldwide, hedgehogs are disappearing at the same rate as tigers.
As little as three squares of chocolate can make dogs sick.
Duffy Brook
Chocolate poisoning in dogs remains a problem, particularly at Christmas.
Em Campos / Shutterstock.com
Museums are not apolitical, and they are not entirely scientific. As such, they don’t really represent reality.
A messenger dog at Etaples, 28 August 1918.
Imperial War Museum
Either medals or destruction appears to await canine companions from the battlefield.