Animal Life news stories

The study of nonhuman intelligence could be missing major insights
17th May 2022 bigthink.com | Animal Life, Humans, Tech

From machines to animals, there are many kinds of possible minds.

Potentially Alive 830-Million-Year-Old Organisms Found Trapped in Ancient Rock
16th May 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

An incredible discovery has just revealed a potential new source for understanding life on ancient Earth.

Squid and octopus genome studies reveal how their elaborate nervous systems evolved
11th May 2022 cosmosmagazine.com | Animal Life, Weird

Cephalopod genomes are as weird and wonderful as they are.

Indigenous people farmed oysters sustainably for 5000 years
4th May 2022 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

A new archaeological study has unearthed evidence Indigenous people in Australia and North America sustainably managed and consumed oysters for thousands of years.

Giant ichthyosaur’s huge tooth points to sea creatures with robust bite
29th April 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Animal Life

Ichthyosaurs were large marine reptiles with an elongated, snakey shape. They first emerged after the end of the Permian extinction, an event also known as the “great dying”, which occurred about 250m years ago and which wiped out more than two-thirds of species on land and 96% of marine species.

The inner life of a lobster: Do invertebrates have emotions?
26th April 2022 bigthink.com | Animal Life, Humans
There is strong evidence that invertebrates are sentient beings.
What has no eyes, walked on stilts and died in ‘Paleo Pompeii’? This ancient weirdo.
25th April 2022 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Weird

Named Tomlinsonus dimitrii, the species represented by the specimen is part of an extinct group of arthropods known as marrellomorphs that lived approximately 450 million years ago, during the Ordovician period, the research team reported in a new study.

Marine mollusk shells reveal how prehistoric humans adapted to intense climate change
23rd April 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Current global climatic warming is having, and will continue to have, widespread consequences for human history, in the same way that environmental fluctuations had significant consequences for human populations in the past.

Microfossils may be evidence life began ‘very quickly’ after Earth formed
14th April 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Scientists believe they have found evidence of microbes that were thriving near hydrothermal vents on Earth’s surface just 300m years after the planet formed – the strongest evidence yet that life began far earlier than is widely assumed.

Where did the unicorn myth come from?
11th April 2022 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Unicorn-like imagery dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization (about 3300 B.C. to 1300 B.C.) in South Asia, which included parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Fossil of dinosaur killed in asteroid strike found, scientists claim
7th April 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Scientists have presented a stunningly preserved leg of a dinosaur. The limb, complete with skin, is just one of a series of remarkable finds emerging from the Tanis fossil site in the US State of North Dakota.

 

Hidden World of Octopus Cities Shows We Must Leave These Sentient Creatures Alone
7th April 2022 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans

The discovery of octopus communities came as a surprise to biologists who have long described octopuses as solitary animals that interact with others in three specific contexts: hunting, avoiding being hunted, and mating.

1,000-year-old oaks used to create ‘super forest’
26th March 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

“They’ve lived for so long; just think what they’ve seen.” Forester Nick Baimbridge is gazing fondly at a majestic oak that has stood for more than a thousand years. On this wintry afternoon, birds sing from lichen-covered branches and a deer runs through the undergrowth.

Orangutans use slang to ‘show off their coolness’, study suggests
22nd March 2022 | theguardian.com | Animal Life

Primates come up with new ‘kiss-squeak’ alarm calls that spread quickly through communities, research says.

Sulfur from dino-killing asteroid caused way more global cooling than thought
22nd March 2022 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

When the dinosaur-destroying asteroid collided with Earth 66 million years ago, massive amounts of sulfur — volumes more than were previously thought — were thrown high above land into the stratosphere, a new study finds.

Lunar Eclipses Have a Peculiar Effect on Migrating Swifts – But So Does The Full Moon
20th March 2022 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Earth

As the full Moon rises, so too does the Northern black swift (Cypseloides niger borealis). When this little bird migrates from the Rocky Mountains to the Amazon rainforest, researchers have found it uses moonlight to regain its energy.

News stories covering Animal Science, bacterial life, DNA.