Endangered Animals News

January 3, 2026

Top Headlines

Zombie Worms Are Missing and Scientists Are Alarmed

Dec. 28, 2025 When researchers lowered whale bones into the deep ocean, they expected zombie worms to quickly move in. Instead, after 10 years, none appeared — an unsettling result tied to low-oxygen waters in the region. These worms play a key role in breaking ...

We Are Living in a Golden Age of Species Discovery

Dec. 24, 2025 The search for life on Earth is speeding up, not slowing down. Scientists are now identifying more than 16,000 new species each year, revealing far more biodiversity than expected across animals, plants, fungi, and beyond. Many species remain ...

New Ghost Marsupial Related to the Kangaroo Found in Australia

Dec. 13, 2025 Researchers analyzing ancient fossils from caves across Western Australia have uncovered a completely new species of bettong along with two new woylie subspecies—remarkable finds made bittersweet by signs that some may already be ...

A Silent Ocean Pandemic Is Wiping Out Sea Urchins Worldwide

Dec. 12, 2025 A sudden, unexplained mass die-off is decimating sea urchins around the world, including catastrophic losses in the Canary Islands. Key reef-grazing species are reaching historic lows, and their ability to reproduce has nearly halted in some ...

New Fossils in Qatar Reveal a Tiny Sea Cow Hidden for 21 Million Years

Dec. 12, 2025 Fossils from Qatar have revealed a small, newly identified sea cow species that lived in the Arabian Gulf more than 20 million years ago. The site contains the densest known collection of fossil sea cow bones, showing that these animals once thrived ...

These Bald Eagles Fly the Wrong Way Every Year and Stun Scientists

Dec. 11, 2025 Scientists tracking young Arizona Bald Eagles found that many migrate north during summer and fall, bucking the traditional southbound pattern of most birds. Their routes rely heavily on historic stopover lakes and rivers, and often extend deep into ...

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 ...

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 ...

It Sounds Creepy, but These Scientific Breakthroughs Could Save Lives

Oct. 30, 2025 From mini-brains to spider-inspired gloves and wolf apple coatings, scientists are turning eerie-sounding experiments into real innovations that could revolutionize health and sustainability. Lab-grown brain organoids may replace animal testing, ...

Scientists Just Found a Surprising Twist in Earth’s Extinction Story

Oct. 27, 2025 Extinction rates are not spiraling upward as many believe, according to a large-scale study analyzing 500 years of data. Researchers found that species losses peaked about a century ago and have decreased since, with different drivers shaping past ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:02am EST

Did an Exploding Comet Wipe out the Mammoths?

Jan. 1, 2026 Scientists are uncovering new clues that a cosmic explosion may have rocked Earth at the end of the last ice age. At major Clovis-era sites, researchers found shocked quartz—evidence of intense ...

This Strange Ancient Snake Was Hiding in a Museum for Decades

Dec. 31, 2025 A strange little snake fossil found on England’s south coast has finally revealed its secrets—more than 40 years after it was discovered. The newly named Paradoxophidion richardoweni lived around ...

Earth’s Worst Extinction Was Followed by a Shockingly Fast Ocean Comeback

Dec. 30, 2025 A spectacular fossil trove on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen shows that marine life made a stunning comeback after Earth’s greatest extinction. Tens of thousands of fossils reveal fully aquatic ...

Ancient Wolves Could Only Have Reached This Island by Boat

Dec. 29, 2025 Scientists have uncovered ancient wolf remains on a small Baltic island where wolves could only have been brought by humans. These animals weren’t dogs, but true wolves that ate the same marine ...

Back from the Dead: “Extinct” Fish Rediscovered in a Remote Bolivian Pond After 20 Years

Dec. 25, 2025 A tiny fish long feared lost has resurfaced in Bolivia, offering a rare conservation success story amid widespread habitat destruction. Moema ...

From Biting Flies to Feathered Dinosaurs, Scientists Reveal 70 New Species

Dec. 19, 2025 Researchers announced over 70 new species in a single year, including bizarre insects, ancient dinosaurs, rare mammals, and deep-river fish. Many were found not in the wild, but in museum ...

Human Brains Light Up for Chimp Voices in a Way No One Expected

Dec. 10, 2025 Humans don’t just recognize each other’s voices—our brains also light up for the calls of chimpanzees, hinting at ancient communication roots shared with our closest primate relatives. ...

A Mysterious Black Snake Hidden for Centuries Is Now Named for Steve Irwin

Dec. 5, 2025 Researchers have uncovered a new species of wolf snake on Great Nicobar Island and named it Lycodon irwini in tribute to Steve Irwin. The glossy black, non-venomous snake grows up to a meter and ...

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 ...

Scientists Discover Hidden Wolf DNA in Most Dogs

Nov. 29, 2025 Researchers studying thousands of canine genomes discovered that wolf DNA is still present in most dog breeds. This ancient genetic influence shows up in traits like body size, behavior, and ...

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 ...

AI Detects a Secret Lion Roar No One Knew Existed

Nov. 22, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a surprising second type of lion roar, using AI to decode vocal signatures with remarkable precision. This breakthrough sheds new light on how lions communicate and offers a ...

Scientists Reveal Kissing Began Millions of Years Before Humans

Nov. 21, 2025 Scientists have traced kissing back to early primates, suggesting it began long before humans evolved. Their analysis points to great apes and even Neanderthals sharing forms of kissing millions of ...

Scientists Recover 40,000-Year-Old Mammoth RNA Still Packed With Clues

Nov. 15, 2025 Researchers have sequenced the oldest RNA ever recovered, taken from a woolly mammoth frozen for nearly 40,000 years. The RNA reveals which genes were active in its tissues, offering a rare glimpse ...

New Research Uncovers the Massive Squid Diet of Hawaiian Pilot Whales

Nov. 17, 2025 Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales are surprisingly voracious hunters, diving hundreds of meters beneath the Pacific to snatch squid in the dark. By tagging and tracking eight whales, researchers ...

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 ...

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 ...

Chimps Shock Scientists by Changing Their Minds With New Evidence

Nov. 16, 2025 Chimps may revise their beliefs in surprisingly human-like ways. Experiments showed they switched choices when presented with stronger clues, demonstrating flexible reasoning. Computational modeling ...

Dinosaurs Were Thriving When the Asteroid Struck

Oct. 26, 2025 Dinosaurs weren’t dying out before the asteroid hit—they were thriving in vibrant, diverse habitats across North America. Fossil evidence from New Mexico shows that distinct “bioprovinces” of ...

Humans Evolved Faster Than Any Other Ape

Oct. 29, 2025 UCL scientists found that human skulls evolved much faster than those of other apes, reflecting the powerful forces driving our brain growth and facial flattening. By comparing 3D models of ape ...

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 ...

Ancient Humans in Italy Butchered Elephants and Made Tools from Their Bones

Oct. 12, 2025 Researchers in Italy discovered 400,000-year-old evidence that ancient humans butchered elephants for food and tools. At the Casal Lumbroso site near Rome, they found hundreds of bones and stone ...

From Gentle Giants to Ghostly Hunters, Sharks Face an Unseen Peril

Oct. 4, 2025 New research reveals that deep-sea mining could dramatically threaten 30 species of sharks, rays, and ghost sharks whose habitats overlap with proposed mining zones. Many of these species, already at ...

Dolphins May Be Getting Alzheimer’s from Toxic Ocean Blooms

Oct. 11, 2025 Dolphins washing up on Florida’s shores may be victims of the same kind of brain degeneration seen in humans with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers discovered that cyanobacterial toxins—worsened ...

The Red Sea That Vanished and the Catastrophic Flood That Brought It Back

Oct. 8, 2025 Researchers at KAUST have confirmed that the Red Sea once vanished entirely, turning into a barren salt desert before being suddenly flooded by waters from the Indian Ocean. The flood carved deep ...

Breakthrough Wetsuits Slash Shark Attack Injuries and Save Lives

Sep. 25, 2025 Shark experts tested four innovative wetsuit materials to measure how well they reduce shark-bite injuries. The results show they can lessen major trauma, blood loss, and even save lives when ...

Student’s Pinkie-Sized Fossil Reveals a New Croc Species

Sep. 23, 2025 A 95-million-year-old crocodyliform fossil, affectionately nicknamed Elton, was discovered in Montana by student Harrison Allen. Unlike most crocs, it lived on land and ate a varied diet. The find ...

Stressed Koalas Are Facing a Deadly Epidemic

Sep. 23, 2025 Researchers have shown that stress and retrovirus levels are tightly linked to disease in koalas. High KoRV loads make koalas more vulnerable to chlamydia, worsening epidemics in stressed ...