Animal Life news stories

World’s oldest ‘pet cemetery’ discovered in ancient Egypt
9th March 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the oldest pet cemetery on record — a nearly 2,000-year-old burial ground filled with well-loved animals, including the remains of cats and monkeys still wearing collars stringed with shell, glass and stone beads, a new study finds.

Could lab-grown meat help tackle climate change?
9th March 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Last year, Singapore became the first country to allow the sale of lab-grown meat. BBC Minute takes a look at what lab-grown meat is and whether it could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

Octopuses Not Only Feel Pain Physically, But Emotionally Too, First Study Finds
7th March 2021 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans

An important new study suggests octopuses are likely to feel and respond to pain in a similar way to mammals – the first strong evidence for this capacity in any invertebrate.

New study suggests humans evolved to run on less water than our closest primate relatives
7th March 2021 phys.org | Animal Life, Humans

When you think about what separates humans from chimpanzees and other apes, you might think of our big brains or the fact that we get around on two legs rather than four. But we have another distinguishing feature: water efficiency.

Primate ancestor of all humans likely roamed with the dinosaurs
7th March 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Scientists have identified the earliest primate fossils: tiny ancient teeth from a rat-size creature that suggest our ancient ancestors once lived alongside the dinosaurs.

Cuttlefish show self-control, pass ‘marshmallow test’
4th March 2021 | livescience.com | Animal Life

Cephalopods were willing to forgo meals when they knew that waiting meant they would be rewarded with more delicious treats, according to a new study. That makes them the first known invertebrates to show the ability to exert self-control.

Answer to fossil record puzzle may lie with teenage T rexes, study finds
27th February 2021 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Animal Life

Teenage T rexes and other carnivorous dinosaurs the size of lions or bears may have crowded out smaller species, explaining why there are so few of them preserved in the fossil record, research suggests.

Researchers solve puzzle of water-to-land transition of vertebrates
27th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The water-to-land transition is a leap in the history of vertebrate evolution and one of the most important scientific issues in vertebrate evolution. Previous studies have shown that vertebrate landing occurred in bony fishes.

A 4.4 million-year-old skeleton could reveal how early humans began to walk upright
25th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Thomas Cody Prang, assistant professor of anthropology, and colleagues examined the skeletal remains of Ardipithecus ramidus (“Ardi”), dated to 4.4 million years old and found in Ethiopia. One of Ardi’s hands was exceptionally well-preserved.

Weird rodent glows under UV light with disco swirls of pink and orange
24th February 2021 | livescience.com | Animal Life, Weird

Researchers are building a growing (and glowing) list of fluorescent mammals, and a new addition, an endearing jumping rodent called the springhare, just leapt into the spotlight, its brown fur lighting up in swirling disco patterns of pink and orange under ultraviolet (UV) rays.

First DNA extracted from modern, ancient and fossil tropical shells
24th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

In Wonderland, Alice drank a potion to shrink herself. In nature, some animal species shrink to escape the attention of human hunters, a process that takes from decades to millennia.

Gorgeous Egyptian Art From 4,600 Years Ago Reveals an Extinct Goose
24th February 2021 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Artwork that had adorned the walls of an Egyptian prince’s tomb for more than four millennia has been found to contain images of a bird completely unknown to modern science – until now.

Beaver believers: Native Americans promote resurgence of ‘nature’s engineers’
24th February 2021 | theguardian.com | Animal Life, Humans

The rodents are often considered ‘nuisance animals’, but they can play a vital role in maintaining healthy landscapes

Australia’s oldest known rock art is a 17,000-year-old kangaroo
23rd February 2021 | newscientist.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

A life size kangaroo painted in red ochre around 17,300 years ago is Australia’s oldest known rock art. This indicates that the earliest style of rock art in Australia focused on animals, similar to the early cave art found in Indonesia and Europe.

DNA from 360,000-year-old bone reveals oldest non-permafrost genome
23rd February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of an extinct cave bear using a 360,000-year-old bone—the oldest genome of any organism from a non-permafrost environment.

Earth’s magnetic field flipping linked to extinctions 42,000 years ago
19th February 2021 | newscientist.com | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

The most recent reversal of Earth’s magnetic field may have been as recent as 42,000 years ago, according to a new analysis of fossilised tree rings.

News stories covering Animal Science, bacterial life, DNA.