Animal Life news stories

The ‘dark earth’ revealing the Amazon’s secrets
17th January 2024 | bbc.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Amid the discovery of a lost city in the Amazon rainforest, scientists are uncovering a different kind of relic underground – one that’s still being used today.

Mummified skin from creature that lived 290 million years ago is older than the dinosaurs
17th January 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Crocodile-like skin belonging to an early species of reptile is the oldest fossilized skin ever discovered, dating back almost 290 million years — 130 million years older than the previous record holder.

Some of the oldest multicellular life accurately dated for the first time
16th January 2024 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Complex, multicellular life emerged on Earth 600-700 million years ago. For the first time, scientists have accurately dated some of the oldest examples of complex life. See the research here.

What happened to 10-foot tall primates that once lived in China?
11th January 2024 | earth.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

A study led by an international team of researchers is shedding new light on the mystery of Gigantopithecus blacki, a giant prehistoric primate that once lived in what is now southern China.

Here’s how poison dart frogs safely hoard toxins in their skin
9th January 2024 | sciencenews.org | Animal Life, Humans

Toxins found in the skin of poison dart frogs may hitch a ride there via molecular taxicabs…But how these toxins, which help to fend off predators, make it from a frog’s intestines to its skin has been a mystery. See the study here.

Scientists Accuse BBC Of Manipulating Data On ‘Most Significant Fossils’ Ever Found
7th January 2024 dailycaller.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

The BBC came under fire in early January for appearing to try and manipulate data surrounding the discovery of a fossil discussed in a David Attenborough documentary.

Oldest large baleen whale fossil found in Australia
20th December 2023 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life

A baleen whale fossil found on the banks of the Murray River in South Australia is challenging previous ideas about when baleen whales first evolved to be big. The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Scientists Contact Whales in World-First Communication Experiment
19th December 2023 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans

In a recent study, scientists from UC Davis, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) teamed up. Their mission: Communicate with whales. And they did just that.

Pliosaur discovery: Huge sea monster emerges from Dorset cliffs
10th December 2023 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago.

Spanish horses joined Indigenous South Americans’ societies long before Europeans came to stay
10th December 2023 | sciencenews.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Hunter-gatherers in southernmost South America integrated horses with Spanish pedigrees into their societies around 400 years ago, long before Europeans occupied that region, a new study suggests.

Hunting of straight-tusked elephants was widespread among Neanderthals 125,000 years ago, finds study
7th December 2023 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Hunting the now extinct straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) was widespread among Neanderthals, concludes a research team… The study has recently been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Why didn’t gamma radiation prevent life on Earth from starting?
6th December 2023 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

New research published in Nature Communications suggests that the first cell-like structures on Earth contained radiation-resistant manganese antioxidants, protecting the first cells to evolve.

Oldest mosquito fossils upend blood-sucking evolution theory
5th December 2023 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life

Two mosquito fossils, preserved in Lebanese amber, are challenging scientists’ understanding of how blood feeding developed in the insects. The findings have been published in Current Biology.

How the Sonoran Desert Toad Became an Obsession of Mainstream Psychedelia
4th December 2023 doubleblindmag.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Inside a decades-long journey to uncover the sacramental origins of the Bufo alvarius toad—and the powerful psychedelic derived from it…The story began innocently enough in Haiti in the spring of 1982, in the temple of a Vodoun sorcerer…

Dolphins Reveal a Mysterious Hidden Sense: They Can Detect Electric Fields
1st December 2023 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans, Weird

One of the most well-studied marine mammals in the world has been secretly harboring a superpower sixth sense. The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Mysterious bird-like tracks in Africa: The oldest birds?
30th November 2023 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Fossil tracks found in southern Africa, push the potential evolution of the first birds back to 210 million years ago – during the Triassic (252–201 million years ago), the first epoch of the “Age of Dinosaurs.”

News stories covering Animal Science, bacterial life, DNA.