Emma Kast, University of Cambridge; Jeremy McCormack, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, dan Sora Kim, University of California, Merced
Megalodon, the world’s largest known shark species, swam the oceans long before humans existed. Its teeth are all that’s left, and they tell a story of an apex predator that vanished.
Researchers have discovered that great white sharks are more social than previously thought. Using specialized tags, they tracked six sharks and found that some stay close to each other when hunting.
Diegoalerus was probably around the size of a bobcat.
Erick Toussaint, San Diego Natural History Museum (licensed under CC by 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
The 1878, the body of Sergeant Michael Kennedy lay in the bush in Victoria’s Wombat Ranges. He’d been shot by the notorious Ned Kelly gang – but the bush would add its own gruesome ending.
African wild dogs are used to evading hyenas and lions. Genetic research suggests they are using the same strengths to get around human development as well.
The Liopleurodon was a pliosaur of the Jurassic period.
SciePro/Shutterstock
The researchers found tooth shape varied, depending on the types of food a carnivore regularly bites into – in much the same way we choose a kitchen knife depending on what we’re cutting up.
‘Fake news’ odours are protecting vulnerable birds and their offspring, including the banded dotterel.
Imogen Warren/Shutterstock
Finding a fossil tooth embedded in bone is always great news for palaeontologists, as it is the gateway to some otherwise out-of-reach understanding of the behaviour of extinct animals.
Kiwi are often moved between fragmented populations to limit inbreeding, but without sufficient genetic screening, this risks doing more harm than good.
Fossils of Shuvuuia deserti depict a small predatory creature with exceptional night vision and hearing.
Mick Ellison/American Natural History Museum
By looking at the eye bones and ear canals of extinct dinosaurs, researchers show that a small ancient predator likely hunted at night and had senses as good as a modern barn owl.
Beware of zombie companies.
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A parent’s or grandparent’s stressful experiences change how their offspring behave. And it turns out that moms’ experiences produce different changes in kids than dads’.
Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Climate change has long been dismissed as a significant stress to New Zealand’s native wildlife, but research shows it exacerbates existing threats such as introduced predators and habitat loss.