Sabre-tooth tiger Smilodon meets the South American marsupial, Thylacosmilus . This is a classic image of supposedly ‘superior northerners’ outcompeting ‘inferior southerners’, but such meetings actually rarely happened as many of the southern species had already gone extinct.
'The rise of Smilodon', Hodari Nundu
Why were mammals travelling south through newly-formed Panama so much more successful than those heading north?
Photograph of an elephant brain.
Dr. Paul Manger/ University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Life in captivity causes observable harm to the structure and function of large mammals’ brains.
An Egyptian Fruit Bat in flight.
Sherri and Brock Fenton
This important discovery demonstrates that cognitive maps are not the exclusive domain of humans and a few other species.
Scott Hartman (skeletaldrawing@gmail.com)
This ancient cat-sized animal lived millions of years ago and had features not found in any of today’s mammals.
Unlike mammoths, bison survived in Alaska at the end of the last ice age.
Hans Veth/Unsplash
The historical record is full of surprises – and it could encourage conservationists to think more creatively.
PNS Survey
A new method of using camera traps has brought good and bad news for conservationists.
A small colony of Townsend’s big eared bats at Lava Beds National Monument, Calif.
Shawn Thomas, NPS/Flickr
The value that bats provide to humans by pollinating crops and eating insects is far greater than harm from virus transmission – which is mainly caused by human actions.
Flickr
First come the beetles, then the birds: how nature is surviving, and thriving, after a summer of fires.
Peter Tyrrell
Most of Kenya’s biodiversity needs protecting outside protected areas in human‐dominated landscapes that are undergoing rapid change.
Minke whale.
Jeremy Goldbogen
How did whales that feed on tiny prey evolve into the largest creatures on Earth? And why don’t they get even bigger?
Artistic view of the evolution of elephants. From left to right, Moeritherium (30 million years old), Deinotherium (5 million years old) and a modern African elephant.
Alex Bernardini (Simplex Paléo) and Sophie Vrard (Creaphi).
A shift in climate, along with other environmental disruptions and the invasion of competitors and new predators all likely played an important role in reshaping ancient elephants’ brains.
Rosa in the Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ) Sanctuary, Way Kambas, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Willem v Strien/Wikipedia
The world mourns the loss of Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhino. Can anything stop the slide of the species towards extinction?
Wildebeest crossing the Mara River in Tanzania during their annual mass migration.
Jane Rix/Shutterstock
When people build fences across semi-arid landscapes we cut off vital paths to seasonal food and water.
Graham Taylor/Shutterstock
Camera traps allow citizen scientists to peek into the hidden lives of Britain’s mammals.
Artistic reconstruction of newly discovered Peregocetus pacificus.
Alberto Gennari/Cell Press
Our flippered friends evolved from small, hooved deer-like creatures more than 50m years ago.
Roberts Rock, before it slid into the sea, provided evidence of ancient vertebrate life.
Charles Helm
Trackways made by vertebrates during the Pleistocene era, dating back to between 36 000 and 140 000 years helps with research into ancient animals.
Some tropical frogs may be developing resistance to a fungus that has devastated species like Atelopus varius , the variable harlequin frog.
Brian Gratwicke/Wikimedia
A look at new research published in 2018 on fossa, deepsea corals and tropical frogs developing resistance to a deadly fungus.
The dingo, Australia’s largest mammalian carnivore, has a broad diet that varies across the continent.
Judy Dunlop
A survey of 32,000 samples of dingo droppings and stomach contents reveal that this predator’s appetite is as wide-ranging as Australia’s landscapes. But medium and large mammals are top of the menu.
Birds and mammals use feathers and fur for staying warm and dry – but for other purposes too.
from www.shutterstock.com
Finding a mate is of course essential to produce the next generation. And feathers and fur play key roles in making sure that happens.
A 3D model of the skeleton of a European polecat. Penis bone (baculum) is highlighted in pink.
Charlotte A. Brassey
Our study used innovative 3D scanning and engineering-inspired computer simulations to understand the evolution of the penis bone in some mammals.