Biology

A guide to life, on Earth and beyond, including the top news about plants, animals, and physiology.

Latest in Biology

Illustration of Neanderthal tribe butchering large elephant near lake

Neanderthals hunted giant elephants in Europe

a bird with long legs and green feathers standing on a rock

Student discovers new Galápagos bird, solving a decades-old mystery

By Laura Baisas

A tight, candid close-up captures three Black men of different generations leaning their heads together in shared laughter. The man in the center is older with a grey beard, flanked by two younger men. All three have their eyes closed or squinted with joy, showcasing genuine, broad smiles and visible teeth. The image has a warm, intimate feel, emphasizing a strong emotional connection.

Why is laughter contagious? Blame your brain.

By Clarissa Brincat

An artist’s interpretation of mammals that lived during the last Ice Age. Fossils from similar species of an armadillo-like pampathere (bottom left) and giant ground sloth (background) were among those found in a recent study of a Texas water cave. Credit: Adapted from artwork by Jaime Chirinos

Giant armadillo, mastodon, and sloth fossils found in flooded Texas cave

a sperm whale calf swims under its mother

Baby sperm whale birth captured in groundbreaking video

By Laura Baisas

Illustration of sperm cells around egg

Sperm loses its sense of direction in space

Nine blue dots on purple background

How many blue dots do you see? New optical illusion tricks the brain.

One of the dogs sampled in the paper from the Skateholm site in Sweden, buried alongside a human.

Europe’s first domesticated dogs arrived over 3,000 years earlier than we thought

By Laura Baisas

a stylized photo of a woman sleeping

Vivid dreams trick your brain into thinking you slept well

By Laura Baisas

a herd of bison running by a car

What to do if you encounter a bison

By Laura Baisas

Red tulips blooming in the tulip fields in the northern Netherlands. Tulips rely on increasing temperatures to know when to bloom.

How plants know when to bloom

By Laura Baisas

A sperm whale and a photographer in the Atlantic Ocean near Portugal.

First-of-its-kind video confirms sperm whales really do headbutt

By Laura Baisas

a green insect (left) the same insect, but it has changed to pink (right)

Green insect turns a puzzling shade of hot pink

By Nidhi Sharma

a larger brown-ish sea turtle sits on an exam table

Hello Helvetica! Vets name rescued sea turtles named after fonts

By Nidhi Sharma

a postage stamp with a bison on it

New stamp honors Yellowstone’s iconic bison

By Nidhi Sharma

two mating frogs with the male grasping on to the female

Even humans love a good mating call

By Laura Baisas

a coyote pup with brown fur tilts its head

Coyote pupping season is here. You can help keep them safe.

By Laura Baisas

Cute labradoodle puppy dog laying down looking sad or thoughtful

Cockapoos, doodles, and other crossbreeds have behavioral problems, too

The bark of birch trees has been used to produce tar for more than 150,000 years. The center photo shows birch bark tar condensed onto a rock that borders a hearth. When scraped off the rocks, the viscous tar can be used as both an adhesive and antibiotic.

Neanderthals used antibiotics, new experiment suggests

By Laura Baisas

Adult bull shark ‘Chunky’ (foreground) parallel swimming with subadult female ‘Lady Lazarus’ (background).

Bull sharks make ‘friends’—and prefer females to males

By Laura Baisas