Mammals News

April 30, 2025

Top Headlines

Elephant Instead of Wild Boar? What Could Have Been in Europe

Apr. 28, 2025 — Even under today's climatic conditions, the long-extinct straight-tusked elephant could still live in Europe. This is the conclusion of a recent study. For this finding, the research group combined fossil finds with reconstructions of past ...

Evolution of Pugs and Persians Converges on Cuteness

Apr. 28, 2025 — Through intensive breeding, humans have pushed breeds such as pug dogs and Persian cats to evolve with very similar skulls and 'smushed' faces, so they're more similar to each other than they are to other dogs or ...

Sugar-Mimicking Molecule Central to Virulence of a Common Crop Disease

Apr. 17, 2025 — In plants, the space between cells is a key battleground during infection. To avoid recognition in this space, a strain of the bacterial tomato disease Pseudomonas syringae manipulates plants by producing a substance called glycosyrin. This ...

How Changes in Lemur Brains Made Some Mean Girls Nice

Apr. 21, 2025 — If there was a contest for biggest female bullies of the animal world, lemurs would be near the top of the list. It's the ladies who get their way and keep males in line. In one branch of the lemur family tree, however, some species have evolved to ...

Latest Headlines

updated 4:49pm EDT

First Confirmed Footage of a Colossal Squid -- And It's a Baby!

Apr. 16, 2025 — An international team of scientists and crew on board Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too) was the first to film the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) in its natural ...

Studying How Seals Adapt to Extreme Environments Could Lead to Benefits in Human Reproductive Health

Apr. 15, 2025 — Wild animals that have acquired adaptions to maximize their reproductive output in some of the world's most extreme conditions may provide answers to ...

Southern Shrews Shrink in Winter

Apr. 15, 2025 — Newly published research shows that the masked shrew, a small, mole-like mammal found in the Appalachian Mountains, shrinks its body and braincase to conserve energy during winter ...

Prehistoric Rhinos Lived in Super-Herds

Apr. 9, 2025 — Rhinos that flourished across much of North America 12 million years ago gathered in huge herds, according to a new ...

How a Small Number of Mutations Can Fuel Outbreaks of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus

Apr. 4, 2025 — New research shows how small shifts in the molecular makeup of a virus can profoundly alter its fate. These shifts could turn a deadly pathogen into ...

Monkeys Are World's Best Yodellers -- New Research

Apr. 2, 2025 — A new study has found that the world's finest yodellers aren't from Austria or Switzerland, but the rainforests of Latin America. The research provides significant new insights into the diverse vocal ...

Mammals Were Adapting from Life in the Trees to Living on the Ground Before Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid

Apr. 1, 2025 — More mammals were living on the ground several million years before the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, new research has ...

Scientists Solve 'Cocktail Party' Mystery of Bat Echolocation

Mar. 31, 2025 — Every night, bats emerge out of roosts in massive numbers, creating what scientists have called a 'cocktail party nightmare' of clashing echolocations. Nobody knew how bats managed this severe ...

Why Scientists Are Worried About Weasels

Mar. 28, 2025 — Weasels are often difficult to capture on camera, making it hard for conservationists to track their population numbers. This study aimed to determine the best material to use as bait for camera ...

Aotearoa Once Home to Elephant Seals

Mar. 20, 2025 — Southern elephant seals are the 'canary in the coal mine' for the Southern Ocean, offering insight into how the ecosystem may react to future climate change and human impact, new research ...

Man's Best Friend May Be Nature's Worst Enemy, Study on Pet Dogs Suggests

Apr. 10, 2025 — New research into the overlooked environmental impact of pet dogs has found far-reaching negative effects on wildlife, ecosystems and ...

What's on the Menu for Ryukyu's Minute Mammals?

Apr. 8, 2025 — Japan's Ryukyu Islands, which includes Okinawa, are the exclusive home to two rare mammals, the Amami rabbit and Ryukyu long-furred rat. These animals are hard to observe, but conservationists ...

Suspected Fibrocartilaginous Embolus in Asian Small-Clawed Otter (Aonyx Cinereus)

Apr. 4, 2025 — A research team investigated the case of a male Asian small-clawed otter that fell down the stairs while sleeping, after which it developed left-sided ...

Tiny Musky Rat-Kangaroos Hold the Key to Explain Why 'Roos Hop

Mar. 19, 2025 — To understand why kangaroos hop -- a rarity among animals -- researchers have studied the musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus), a diminutive marsupial that weighs only 500 grams but is the ...

Conservation Efforts Are Bringing Species Back from the Brink, Even as Overall Biodiversity Falls

Mar. 18, 2025 — A major review of over 67,000 animal species has found that while the natural world continues to face a biodiversity crisis, targeted conservation efforts are helping bring many species back from the ...

Wolves Make a Rapid Recovery in Europe

Mar. 17, 2025 — Wolf populations in Europe increased by nearly 60 percent in a decade, according to a new ...

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (With Carnivores)

Mar. 17, 2025 — A new study has found that fortified enclosures also benefit nearby livestock keepers by preventing carnivore ...

New Name for One of the World's Rarest Rhinoceroses

Mar. 13, 2025 — A recent study has reclassified the species commonly known as the Javan rhinoceros, proposing a more precise scientific name: Eurhinoceros sondaicus. The research highlights key differences in body ...

No Need to Wing It: Bat Activity in Winter Analyzed

Mar. 12, 2025 — Winter in the South can bring about a sharp change in conditions that impact forests and their many inhabitants. However, new research finds that, despite these seasonal shifts, forest management ...

Discovery: The Great Whale Pee Funnel Moves Vital Nutrients

Mar. 10, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that whales move nutrients thousands of miles -- in their urine -- from as far as Alaska to Hawaii. These tons of nitrogen support the health of tropical ecosystems and ...

A Longer, Sleeker Super Predator: Megalodon's True Form

Mar. 9, 2025 — The megalodon has long been imagined as an enormous great white shark, but new research suggests that perception is all wrong. The study finds the prehistoric hunter had a much longer body -- closer ...

Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have combined satellite collar data with specialized cameras to shed light on one of the most mysterious and important stages in polar bears' lives -- maternal denning, when bears ...

Caribou Migration Patterns Are Shrinking

Mar. 5, 2025 — The study shows caribou herds changed their migratory duration, distance or elevation over 35 years of radio tag ...

Genetic Mixing: The Secret to Killer Whale Resilience and Adaptability

Mar. 4, 2025 — Killer whale populations in low latitudes have high genetic diversity despite having low population densities, as a result of genetic mixing, which plays a crucial role in their survival and ...

Caribou Case Study Offers a New Model to Manage Species at Risk

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers are suggesting a more comprehensive approach for identifying at-risk wildlife populations -- such as caribou -- based on individual movement patterns. The article uses a long-term dataset ...

Drone Captures Narwhals Using Their Tusks to Explore, Forage and Play

Feb. 28, 2025 — Using drones, 17 distinct behaviors of narwhals were captured in the wild. Findings reveal complex behaviors of the Arctic's iconic whale never seen before. This highly gregarious whale uses its ...

When the Wild Things Are: Surprising Details of Mammalian Daily Activity

Feb. 26, 2025 — A team has gathered photographic data on daily mammalian activity, studying 445 total species around the world with surprising results. The project generated a massive dataset of animal images ...

Eavesdropping on Whale Songs Sparks New Discoveries in Whale Ecology

Feb. 26, 2025 — Eavesdropping on baleen whale songs in the Pacific Ocean reveals year-to-year variations that track changes in the availability of the species they forage on, according to a new ...

Bite-Size Clue May Help Rediscover the Missing Desert Rat-Kangaroo

Feb. 25, 2025 — An intriguing native Australian rat-kangaroo, thought to be probably extinct, may still be running around in the inhospitable remote Sturt Stony Desert -- and researchers have discovered new details ...

Bigger Animals Get More Cancer, Defying Decades-Old Belief

Feb. 24, 2025 — Bigger animals consistently show higher prevalence of both benign and malignant ...