Zoology News

December 9, 2025

Top Headlines

Bird Flu’s Surprising Heat Tolerance Has Scientists Worried

Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers discovered why bird flu can survive temperatures that stop human flu in its tracks. A key gene, PB1, gives avian viruses the ability to replicate even at fever-level heat. Mice experiments confirmed that fever cripples human-origin flu ...

Record Sargassum Piles Trap Sea Turtle Hatchlings on Florida Beaches

Nov. 24, 2025 Sargassum seaweed is creating major new obstacles for sea turtle hatchlings, drastically slowing their crawl to the ocean and increasing their risk from predators and heat. Despite the physical challenge, their energy stores stay stable, suggesting ...

The Five Great Forests That Keep North America’s Birds Alive

Nov. 22, 2025 Migratory birds that fill North American forests with spring songs depend on Central America’s Five Great Forests far more than most people realize. New research shows these tropical strongholds shelter enormous shares of species like Wood ...

New Research Uncovers Hidden Divide in West Coast Killer Whales

Nov. 20, 2025 Scientists confirmed that West Coast transient killer whales actually form two separate groups split between inner and outer coastal habitats. Inner-coast whales hunt smaller prey in shallow, maze-like waterways, while outer-coast orcas pursue large ...

A Crisis Deepens as African Penguins Compete with Fishing Fleets for Food

Nov. 18, 2025 During years of scarce fish, African penguins crowd into the same areas as commercial fishing vessels, heightening competition for dwindling prey. A new metric called “overlap intensity” shows how many penguins are affected and is already ...

Animals Are Developing the Same Chronic Diseases as Humans

Nov. 17, 2025 Across the planet, animals are increasingly suffering from chronic illnesses once seen only in humans. Cats, dogs, cows, and even marine life are facing rising rates of cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and obesity — diseases tied to the same factors ...

Cockroaches Are Secretly Poisoning Indoor Air

Nov. 4, 2025 Cockroach infestations don’t just bring creepy crawlers, they fill homes with allergens and bacterial toxins that can trigger asthma and allergies. NC State researchers found that larger infestations meant higher toxin levels, especially from ...

Birds, Not Wind, Brought Life to Iceland’s Youngest Island

Nov. 4, 2025 When Surtsey erupted from the sea in 1963, it became a living experiment in how life begins anew. Decades later, scientists discovered that the plants colonizing this young island weren’t carried by the wind or floating on ocean currents, but ...

Antarctic Robot ‘Lassie’ Uncovers Thousands of Icefish Nests Beneath Antarctic Ice

Oct. 29, 2025 Beneath the ice of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, scientists discovered a vast, organized city of fish nests revealed after the colossal A68 iceberg broke away. Using robotic explorers, they found over ...

Why Women Live Longer Than Men, Explained by Evolution

Oct. 28, 2025 An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, working with 15 collaborators around the world, has conducted the most comprehensive study yet of lifespan differences ...

Scientists Turn Flower Fragrance Into a Mosquito Killer

Oct. 27, 2025 A team of researchers has developed a floral-scented fungus that tricks mosquitoes into approaching and dying. The fungus emits longifolene, a natural scent that irresistibly draws them in. It’s harmless to humans, inexpensive to produce, and ...

Snake Pee Might Hold the Secret to Ending Gout Pain and Kidney Stones

Oct. 25, 2025 Reptiles don’t just pee, they crystallize their waste. Researchers found that snakes and other reptiles form tiny uric acid spheres, a water-saving evolutionary trick. This discovery could illuminate how to prevent gout and kidney stones in ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:24pm EST

Fossil Brain Scans Show Pterosaurs Evolved Flight in a Flash

Dec. 9, 2025 Ancient pterosaurs may have taken to the skies far earlier and more explosively than birds, evolving flight at their very origin despite having relatively small brains. Using advanced CT imaging, ...

This Rare Bone Finally Settles the Nanotyrannus Mystery

Dec. 9, 2025 Scientists have confirmed that Nanotyrannus was a mature species, not a young T. rex. A microscopic look at its hyoid bone provided the key evidence, matching growth signals seen in known T. rex ...

Hornet-Eating Frog Shows Remarkable Venom Resistance

Dec. 4, 2025 Experiments reveal that pond frogs can eat highly venomous hornets without suffering noticeable damage, even after repeated stings. Most frogs successfully consumed hornets, including the notorious ...

Scientists Discover Why Anacondas Stayed Giants for 12 Million Years

Dec. 3, 2025 Ancient anaconda fossils show that the snakes became giants soon after emerging in Miocene South America. Their size has stayed stable for over 12 million years, even though other huge reptiles went ...

Early Earth’s Sky May Have Created the First Ingredients for Life

Dec. 3, 2025 Researchers recreated conditions from billions of years ago and found that Earth’s young atmosphere could make key molecules linked to life. These sulfur-rich compounds, including certain amino ...

Doomed Ants Send a Final Scent to Save Their Colony

Dec. 3, 2025 Ant pupae that are fatally sick don’t hide their condition; instead, they release a special scent that warns the rest of the colony. This signal prompts worker ants to open the pupae’s cocoons ...

A Tiny Ocean Worm Just Revealed a Big Secret About How Eyes Evolve

Dec. 2, 2025 Scientists found that adult bristleworm eyes grow continuously thanks to a rim of neural stem cells similar to those in vertebrate eyes. This growth is surprisingly regulated by environmental light ...

Wild Chimps Consume More Alcohol Than Anyone Expected

Dec. 1, 2025 Chimpanzees naturally ingest surprising amounts of alcohol from ripe, fermenting fruit. Careful measurements show that their typical fruit diet can equal one to two human drinks each day. This ...

Ancient Long Snouted Croc from Egypt Rewrites Evolution

Dec. 1, 2025 A newly identified crocodile relative from Egypt pushes back the origins of the marine-hunting dyrosaurids by millions of years. The fossil, Wadisuchus kassabi, shows a mix of primitive and advanced ...

242-Million-Year-Old Mini Predator Changes Lizard Evolution

Nov. 30, 2025 A tiny 242-million-year-old fossil from Devon is shaking up scientists’ assumptions about the earliest members of the lizard lineage. Instead of the expected skull hinges and palate teeth typical ...

Fossils Reveal a Massive Shark That Ruled Australia in Dinosaur Times

Nov. 22, 2025 Around 115 million years ago, northern Australia’s seas hosted a colossal shark that rewrites what we thought we knew about early ocean predators. New fossil discoveries show that modern-type ...

How Parakeets Make New Friends in a Surprisingly Human Way

Nov. 23, 2025 Monk parakeets ease into new friendships, slowly approaching strangers to avoid aggressive encounters. Researchers watched how birds shared space, groomed each other, and escalated to deeper social ...

Scientists Reveal How Baby Turtles Navigate Thousands of Miles With a Hidden Magnetic Sense

Nov. 22, 2025 Researchers taught young loggerhead turtles to associate certain magnetic fields with feeding, prompting a distinctive dance when they recognized the signal. After a magnetic pulse briefly disrupted ...

Secret Chemical Traces Reveal Life on Earth 3. 3 Billion Years Ago

Nov. 18, 2025 Researchers have discovered chemical traces of life in rocks older than 3.3 billion years, offering a rare look at Earth’s earliest biology. By combining advanced chemical methods with artificial ...

A Fierce Crocodile Ancestor That Hunted Before Dinosaurs Has Been Found

Nov. 12, 2025 Scientists have identified a new crocodile precursor that looked deceptively dinosaur-like and hunted with speed and precision. Named Tainrakuasuchus bellator, the armored “warrior” lived 240 ...

Scientists Shocked as Bumblebees Learn to Read Simple “Morse Code”

Nov. 12, 2025 In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists found that bumblebees can tell the difference between short and long light flashes, much like recognizing Morse code. The insects learned which signal led to ...

Secret Underwater Language of Hawaiian Monk Seals Has 25 New Calls

Nov. 17, 2025 Scientists have revealed that Hawaiian monk seals produce far more underwater vocalizations than previously believed. Their newly discovered 25-call repertoire includes complex combinations and a ...

55-Million-Year-Old Fossils Reveal Bizarre Crocs That Dropped from Trees

Nov. 15, 2025 Scientists uncovered Australia’s oldest known crocodile eggshells, revealing the secret lives of ancient mekosuchine crocodiles that once dominated inland ecosystems. These crocs filled surprising ...

A 2,000-Year Mystery in Chameleon Eyes Is Finally Solved

Nov. 19, 2025 Chameleons’ extraordinary ability to move their eyes independently stems from a previously overlooked anatomical marvel: long, tightly coiled optic nerves hidden behind their bulging eyes. Modern ...

Scientists Teach Bacteria the Octopus’s Secret to Camouflage

Nov. 3, 2025 Researchers at UC San Diego have figured out how to get bacteria to produce xanthommatin, the pigment that lets octopuses and squids camouflage. By linking the pigment’s production to bacterial ...

This Tiny Bat Hunts Like a Lion, but Better

Nov. 1, 2025 Fringe-lipped bats from Panama hunt like miniature lions, using a “hang-and-wait” strategy to capture large, energy-rich prey. High-tech biologging revealed they spend most of their time ...

Dinosaur Mummy Found With Hooves and a Hidden Crest

Nov. 30, 2025 Scientists have reconstructed the most complete and lifelike profile of Edmontosaurus annectens thanks to an extraordinary preservation process called clay templating, in which a thin clay film ...

A Hidden Temperature Law Governs All Life on Earth

Oct. 25, 2025 In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists at Trinity College Dublin have identified a "universal thermal performance curve" that governs how all living organisms respond to temperature. ...

This Tiny Worm Uses Static Electricity to Hunt Flying Insects

Oct. 15, 2025 A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...

A 151-Million-Year-Old Fly Just Changed What We Know About Evolution

Oct. 15, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a 151-million-year-old midge fossil in Australia that challenges long-held views about insect evolution. Named Telmatomyia talbragarica, the fossil shows freshwater ...

Atlantic Dolphins Are Dying Much Younger. Scientists Sound the Alarm

Oct. 22, 2025 Common dolphins in the North Atlantic are living significantly shorter lives, with female longevity dropping seven years since the 1990s. Researchers found this decline by analyzing stranded ...

After 25 Years, Scientists Solve the Bird-Eating Bat Mystery

Nov. 2, 2025 After decades of mystery, scientists have finally proven that Europe’s largest bat, the greater noctule, hunts and eats small songbirds mid-air—more than a kilometer above ground. Using tiny ...

Scientists Shocked as Birds Soaked in “forever Chemicals” Still Thrive

Oct. 8, 2025 Tree swallows in polluted U.S. regions are accumulating high levels of “forever chemicals.” These durable pollutants, used in firefighting foams and consumer products, are found everywhere from ...

Glowing Shark and Hidden Crab Found Deep Off Australia

Oct. 8, 2025 In a stunning glimpse into the mysteries of the deep, scientists have uncovered two new marine species off Western Australia—a glowing lanternshark and a tiny porcelain crab. The discoveries, made ...

Birds Around the World Share a Mysterious Warning Cry

Oct. 6, 2025 Birds across the globe independently evolved a shared warning call against parasites, blending instinct and learning in a remarkable evolutionary pattern. The finding offers a rare glimpse into how ...