Biology

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

Latest in Biology

Hands warming near a bonfire at night

Fire may have altered human DNA

a white dog with ears perked up and wide eyes against a blue background

Cortisol could impact your dog’s behavior

By Laura Baisas

A hummingbird’s wings on a micro-CT scanner.

How do you check a hummingbird for broken bones? Very carefully.

a small chick sits on a nest with its parent behind, cleaning its feathers with its beak

Watch an albatross give its brand-new chick a very careful cleanup

By Laura Baisas

a dog sits next to a no dog poop sign

Poop DNA tests and AI dog surveillance: The tech changing pet care.

By Mack DeGeurin

Artist illustration of Archaeopteryx

Weird bird mouths go all the way back to the first avian dinosaur

Poison warning label layered atop brown hair

Hair samples reveal the benefits of lead regulation

a small primate with large eyes clings to a branch

This wide-eyed baby primate is cute, cuddly—and venomous

By Margherita Bassi

a green caterpillar on a plant's stem

Caterpillars use tiny hairs to hear

By Margherita Bassi

A young groundhog and its mother lounging in the tall green grass

Groundhogs don’t poop during hibernation and 6 other random facts

By Laura Baisas

a large dark millipede

These rare, giant millipedes only exist in Florida

By Margherita Bassi

Illustration of sailbacked dinosaur vomiting stomach contents

Oldest fossilized dinosaur vomit discovered in Germany

Two paleolithic skeletons displaying dwarfism in museum exhibit

Skeletons reveal Stone Age mother and daughter had a rare genetic condition

Lake Lipno frozen with green cyanobacterial blooms in winter

Toxic algae turned a frozen lake green

three polar bear cubs resting on their mother

Svalbard polar bears are doing surprisingly well (for now)

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of a large shark holding a flag of the state of maryland.

Megalodon could become Maryland’s official state shark

By Laura Baisas

Comparison of short green and long red lipstick vine flowers

This odd vine contradicts long-standing evolutionary theory

a shark with brownish yellow scales and spots curled up among coral

‘Walking sharks’ lay eggs without breaking a sweat

By Margherita Bassi

several nesting pairs of birds on grass with a clear blue ocean water in the background

Snowed in? Watch albatrosses nest on a sunny Pacific island instead

By Laura Baisas

a jellyfish with a red center, blue circle on the outer part of its body, and small tentavles

Perplexing blue button jelly looks like something out of ‘Lord of the Rings’

By Margherita Bassi