Natural History

A hybrid of an alligator gar and spotted gar.

New Research Proves Gars are the King of ‘Living Fossils’

Some animals remain unchanged by evolution over millions of...
drawing of plants with shrubby tops and narrow, twiggy trunks

Found: World’s Oldest Forest, Which Changed Life Forever

If you were hiking through the world’s oldest forest,...
desert

Exploration Mysteries: Lakes of the Badain Jaran Desert

A peculiar satellite image recently made the rounds on...
blue whale

Blue Whale Back on Top as Heaviest Animal Ever

Last year, the Blue Planet’s heaviest ever animal lost...

Amateurs Paleontologists Strike Jackpot: 400 Rare Ordovician Fossils

The Ordovician world was a watery one in which...
two chimps laughing

Monkey Business: Apes Joke All the Time, Apparently

Playing a joke on your buddy, sibling, or parent...
Researcher Olivia King with a newly discovered fossil.

Strange Dr. Seuss-Like Tree Discovered in Canadian Quarry

Weird, bushy, top-heavy tree fossils found in a Canadian...
whale bone alley

Natural Wonders: Whale Bone Alley

On Yttygran Island, just off the Chukotka Peninsula in...
Artist’s depiction of Eoneophron infernalis (top left), MOR 752 (bottom left), and Anzu wyliei (right) in the Hell Creek Formation.

New Dinosaur Marks Second ‘Chicken from Hell’

When Kyle Atkins-Weltman bought some fossils online for one...
Barringer Crater.

The World’s Most Impressive Craters

During our planet's long history, objects from deep space...
a narrow inlet; nearly a land bridge

Australian Atlantis Could Have Hosted Half a Million Migrants

For generations, Australian scientists thought their country’s ancient coasts...
artist's rendering of several apes sitting by a stream

‘Giganto,’ Largest Primate Ever, Died From Climate Change

What could take down a prehistoric ape the size...
skull with a sharpened stick stuck through the nose and mouth

The Surprise Origin of Multiple Sclerosis in Europe

A flight of studies one genetic researcher called a...
Takakia moss

Natural Wonders: The World’s Oldest Moss

Eons ago, Earth experienced a succession of chaotic events:...
ancient Mesopotamian brick

Iron Oxide in Ancient Bricks Reveal Strange History of Earth’s Electromagnetic Field

The Earth's magnetic field surged mysteriously in Mesopotamia (modern-day...
tree trunks joined

Natural Wonders: When Trees Fuse and Flourish as One

Ecologist Suzanne Simard famously says that trees are "social...
rocks on cliff side

Natural Wonders: China’s Egg-Laying Cliff

For centuries, the Sui people of China’s Guizhou province...
A chimpanzee climbing

Downclimbing in Apes Led to Human Arm Development

Every time you go for a swim, throw a...
Remains at the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist.

‘Bone Biographies’ Show Lives of Ordinary People in Medieval England

Bones from Cambridge, England have revealed the surprisingly detailed...
Arctic woollybear caterpillar

Woolly Bear Caterpillar: The Great Arctic Survivor

A while back, I was looking for relics from...
extinct goat

Natural Wonders: Why Are There no Cold-Blooded Mammals?

We divide the animal kingdom into two camps: warm-blooded...
shark head on

Shark Attack Survivor Mike Coots Became a Shark Advocate

BY ALEXANDER HARO This story originally appeared in The Inertia. When...
A group of bonobos.

Bonobos Often ‘Make Friends’ With Strangers

For the first time, researchers witnessed wild bonobos making...

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