Animal Life news stories

Humpback whale song shown to be structurally similar to human language
7th February 2025 phys.org | Animal Life, Humans

Language has long been considered a uniquely human trait, with features that mark it out as distinct from the communication of all other species. However, research published in Science has uncovered the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language in humpback whale song.

Octopuses May Have The Oldest Sex Chromosomes in The Animal Kingdom
4th February 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life

Cephalopods may have the oldest sex chromosomes of any animal, according to a new discovery in the octopus genome. That’s a big deal, given that scientists didn’t know until now if these oddball creatures even had a form of sex determination written into their genes. The research is published in Current Biology.

We may know very little about the origin of dinosaurs
29th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

A review of the oldest known dinosaurs has revealed that fossil evidence for their origin probably has not yet been discovered. Most of the earliest dinosaur fossils have been found in South America and Africa.

Did giant ice age beasts carve these vast caves in South America?
28th January 2025 | nature.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Researchers are investigating who — or what — cut ancient tunnels in sandstone in Brazil and nearby nations.

Giant footprints in Mongolia could be from the largest bipedal dinosaur
27th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Footprints measuring 92cm in width found in Mongolia have raised the prospect of an as yet undiscovered skeleton of the largest bipedal dinosaur ever.

Octopus Arms Are Controlled by a Nervous System That’s Like No Other
15th January 2025 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Weird

Octopuses tend to keep secrets, but we’ve just learnt how they achieve their extraordinary dexterity. The research has been published in Nature Communications.

Enormous skull of 200-million-year-old giant dinosaur discovered in China
14th January 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

An enormous, extremely well preserved dinosaur skull unearthed in China belongs to a never-before-seen species, researchers say.

How the first animals changed the face of Earth forever
13th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The first animals with mineral skeletons changed the way sediments develop on Earth forever, according to new research.

Evidence of a 517-million-year-old “arms race” in the ocean
7th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The oldest-known fossil evidence of a predator-prey arms race has been discovered in shells dating back to the early Cambrian. A new study was published in the journal Current Biology

Archaeological study challenges ‘paleo’ diet narrative of ancient hunter–gatherers
7th January 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

The findings suggest that contrary to popular belief, the diet of early hominids was not solely focused on animal protein, but rather featured a diverse range of plant-based foods, including acorns, cereals, legumes, and aquatic plants. This multidisciplinary study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),

Neuroscience study reveals shared processing of human and dog facial expressions
7th January 2025 | psypost.org | Animal Life, Humans

Researchers recently examined how human brains respond to emotional facial expressions from both humans and dogs, uncovering similarities in how these expressions are processed. The study was published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

The Genetic Book of the Dead
5th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Richard Dawkin’s new book is woven with beautiful metaphors and rich descriptive language. Not so much conversational as poetic, settle in for an elaborate exploration of evolution. It raises some new and curious questions, including whether it’s worth thinking of our ‘own’ genes as a gigantic colony of cooperating viruses.

Archaeological study uncovers world’s oldest evidence of livestock horn manipulation
16th December 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Archaeologists Dr. Wim van Neer, Dr. Bea De Cupere, and Dr. Renée Friedman have published a study on the earliest evidence of horn modification in livestock in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Ancient ‘land bridge’ that connected Siberia to US wasn’t what it seems, scientists find
12th December 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

The Bering land bridge that spanned between Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Age was more of a Bering land bog, new research finds.

A Mysterious Explosion of Color in Animals Has Lasted 100 Million Years
25th November 2024 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

In a new study, US researchers shed light on what they call an “explosion” of animal color signals over the past 100 million years – with novel insights about the timing and possible triggers of this evolutionary innovation.

Oldest depictions of fishing discovered in Ice Age art: Camp site reveals 15,800-year-old engravings of fish trapping
11th November 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

The Ice Age campsite of Gönnersdorf on the banks of the Rhine has revealed a groundbreaking discovery that sheds new light on early fishing practices. The work is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

News stories covering Animal Science, bacterial life, DNA.