What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end
Which animals came first? For more than a century, most evidence suggested that sponges, immobile filter-feeders that lack…
Same-sex sexual behaviour can help primates to survive — and reproduce
In golden snub-nosed monkeys, sexual interactions between individuals of the same sex seem to fortify social bonds. Credit:…
Byron Bay shark frenzy attracts onlookers and a warning to steer clear
A marine scientist has warned against getting in the ocean with sharks after footage emerged of swimmers at…
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials
Ethics statement Approval for data collection protocols at Suaq was provided by the Indonesian State Ministry for Research…
Be rational: chimp decision-making is guided by the strongest evidence – Nature
Be rational: chimp decision-making is guided by the strongest evidence NatureChimpanzees are better at reasoning than we thought Financial TimesScience…
Single antivenom protects against 17 different snakebites
The black mamba is one Africa’s most deadly venomous snakes.Credit: Matthijs Kuijpers/Alamy An antivenom using antibodies from a…
Glowing sperm helps to reveal secrets of mosquito sex
Sex between Aedes aegypti mosquitoes lasts about 14 seconds.Credit: Jacopo Razzauti/The Rockefeller University Female mosquitoes that transmit dengue…
This ‘minor’ bird flu strain has potential to spark human pandemic
Attention has been focused on avian influenza virus H5N1 in the past few years, but scientists are concerned…
palaeontologist who showed that dinosaurs still walk among us — as birds
Credit: Katja Heinemann/Aurora/Cavan/Alamy Mark Norell, whose discoveries helped to demonstrate that birds are living dinosaurs, has died aged…
three ways she changed science
Jane Goodall, a British primatologist known for her work with chimpanzees, died on Wednesday 1 October, aged 91.…
AI is helping to decode animals’ speech. Will it also let us talk with them?
Deep in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mélissa Berthet found bonobos doing something thought…
Octopus arm flexibility facilitates complex behaviors in diverse natural environments
Arm actions Twelve arm actions were identified from 15 behaviors with a total of 3,907 actions recorded from…