Biology (Page 5)

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

Latest in Biology

A cross section of a dog's heart showing heartworm

This deadly dog ‘spaghetti’ has ancient origins

By Laura Baisas

a brown cow with a large stick in her mouth and mountains in the background

Veronika the Cow shocks scientists by using a tool

By Laura Baisas

The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex is seen in the Dinosaur Gallery of the Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, Belgium.

Tyrannosaurus rex took 40 years to reach full size

By Margherita Bassi

Three harvest mice playing around and entwining their tails together to stop them from falling.

Female mice often have multiple sexual partners—for survival

By Margherita Bassi

a young chimpanzee hanging upside down in a tree

Baby chimpanzees like to free fall through trees

By Margherita Bassi

an iguana with mostly green scales flecked with some orange, blue, and yellow

Don’t pick up frozen iguanas

By Laura Baisas

a close up of a mummified cheetah preserved in a laboratory. it's sharp front teeth are visible

Mummified cheetahs could help save the critically endangered big cats

By Laura Baisas

a mosquito drinking human blood

Without forests, mosquitoes turn to human blood

a deer stands by a river

Deer markings actually glow

By Laura Baisas

the remains of an ice age wolf

14,000-year-old woolly rhinoceros DNA extracted from wolf’s stomach

By Laura Baisas

a small black insect standing on white snow

Snow fleas use their tail to jump around the ice

By Laura Baisas

A pair of Sacabambaspis fish, around 14 inches (35 centimeters) in length, which had distinct, forward-facing eyes and an armored head. No fossils of animals like Sacabambaspis from after the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction event have been discovered.

Mass death paved the way for the Age of Fishes

By Laura Baisas

a portrait of leonardo da vinci. he has a long white beard, long white hair, and is wearing a black hat

Science sleuths think they found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA

By Mack DeGeurin

a dog surrounded by stuffed animals

Super smart dogs learn by eavesdropping

By Laura Baisas

an iguana with blue and green scales

10 vulnerable wildlife species to watch in 2026

By Laura Baisas

three side by side images of a large jellyfish in a deep sea canyon

Giant phantom jellyfish spotted deep in Pacific

By Laura Baisas

Close up of Greenland shark with copepod attached to eye

Dissected Greenland shark eyeballs could help humans see forever

A fluffy beavers sits in front of a fallen tree branch with yellow leaves.

Idaho once dropped 76 beavers from airplanes—on purpose

By Jennifer Byrne

a cave painting of two warty pigs

Pigs have been island hopping for 50,000 years

By Laura Baisas

a couple holding hands as the sun sets over water

Why humans live and die for love

By Dr. Justin R. Garcia

A group of three African elephants walking through tall, dry yellow grass in a savanna. The central elephant is facing forward with its large ears fully fanned out, flanked by two others with visible tusks.

Why do elephants have such big ears? There’s not one answer.

By Sarah Philip

a block calendar with january 1 and the word "dry" on it

The health benefits of Dry January

a capybara between two evergreen trees

Donated Christmas trees get a second life at the zoo

By Laura Baisas

a small cat walking on leaves

Tiny wild cat spotted in Thailand for first time in 30 years

By Margherita Bassi

An overhead view shows a group of diverse hands, with varying skin tones, arranged in a circle against a plain white background. The palms are open and facing upward, with some hands overlapping, creating a sense of unity and community. Some individuals wear rings or a beaded bracelet, and the sleeves of various shirts—plaid, denim, and solid colors—are visible at the edges of the frame.

Why do we have five fingers and toes?

By Laura Kiniry

a butterfly with blue wings with black spots

9 new butterflies discovered in old museum archives

By Margherita Bassi

a close up of a turtle with its head in its shell

Butt breathing and 5 other ways animals stay warm in winter

By Laura Baisas

a large brown bear in italy

Bears in Italy inbreed more, but are less aggressive

By Margherita Bassi

A pink octopus squid floating upside down spotted by MBARI researchers

Dive into 2025’s most stunning deep-sea wildlife encounters

3D scan cross-section of an ant

Weak ants conquered Earth using sheer numbers

roman ruins in northern england

Diarrhea slowed down Roman soldiers

By Laura Baisas

a mother polar bear walking on ice with two cubs behind her

Rare polar bear adoption could save cub’s life

By Laura Baisas

‘Mr. Fezziwig's Ball,’ an 1843 illustration by John Leech for ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. This novella was the earliest and most popular of Dickens' Christmas stories. The kissing under mistletoe (left) and evergreen decoration hanging from the ceiling are vestiges of pre-Christian winter rites.

A history of mistletoe: The parasitic ‘dung on a twig’

A cross sectional image of an actively growing microbialite from South Africa.

‘Living rocks’ suck up a lot of carbon

By Laura Baisas

a small orange frog sits on a pencil tip for scale

Teeny tiny orange toadlet found in Brazil

By Laura Baisas

a big group of oysters still in the shell

Pills, powders, and opioids stress out oyster babies

By Laura Baisas

A large brown lizard, possibly a mother, is perched on a gray rock, eating a much smaller, lighter-colored juvenile lizard, which it holds in its mouth. The juvenile appears to be struggling or caught in the act.

Why some animals eat their babies

By Andrew Coletti

close up of white lab rat inside cage

If offered, rats will use cannabis to deal with stress

several red and beige mushroom-like plants growing at the base of a tree

Asexual parasitic plants break biology’s rules

By Laura Baisas

Artist's impression of sparks from flint and pyrite

Neanderthals harnessed fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought

Close up of Nazca booby bird

Female Galápagos birds flaunt their sexual partners. The males don’t seem to mind.

white urinals separated by green plants

Swiss startup turns urine into plant fertilizer

By Margherita Bassi

a dead sperm whale floats among ice while a polar bear floats on the whale

5 captivating images from National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year

By Popular Science Team

German hairy snails are disappearing from London’s River Thames

By Margherita Bassi

Inside the mouth of this anchovy, plankton particles are captured by the gill arch system.

Sardine-inspired washing machine filter removes 99% of microplastics

Frog eating hornet in cage

Pond frogs devour murder hornets, stinger and all

a mom and daughter camping with their dog. a tall mountain is in the foreground

Pet dogs can help teens’ mental health

By Laura Baisas

Ants checking pupa cocoon against white background

Sick baby ants sacrifice themselves to save their colony

Large green anaconda in grass

Anacondas have been huge for over 12 million years

an orange cat sits on ancient ruins

Roman military helped bring cats to Europe

By Laura Baisas

an bird with white and black feathers called an albatross

Record-breaking 75-year-old mother bird prepares to nest

By Laura Baisas

a close up of evergreen branches

How the evergreen shaped America

By Trent Preszler

a chimpanzee in green grass

Chimpanzees shock biologists with rational thinking

By Margherita Bassi

Newly described muscle anatomy (right) and overall jaw anatomy of Dunkleosteus terrelli (center), compared to a more typical arthrodire (left)

Cleveland’s beloved ancient sea monster was more turtle than shark

Charles Darwin’s Address Book is a small brown leather notebook, with “VISITS” and “ADDRESSES” printed on its spine (photo 1) and index-letter tabs in alternating black and red. The entries were begun by his wife, Emma Darwin, and are in her pleasant, rounded handwriting (photo 2), shortly after their marriage in January 1839. Latter entries were by Darwin (photo 3), and he continued to use this Address Book throughout his lifetime.

Flip through Charles Darwin’s digitized address book

a monkey with its hand over its mouth

10 captivating images from National Geographic’s Photo Ark

By Popular Science Team

A female kestrel in a cherry orchard in northern Michigan.

Falcons help keep bird poop off your delicious cherries

By Laura Baisas

Fragments of BRT-VP-2/135 before assembly. The specimen was found in 29 pieces of which 27 of them were recovered by sifting and picking the sifted dirt.

Prehistoric foot bones finally linked to our early ancestors

A close-up photograph of a young child's face with freckles, wearing a knit winter hat dusted with snow. The child is smiling and deliberately crossing their eyes. The background is a blurry white winter scene.

Is crossing your eyes really bad for you? We asked an optometrist.

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Golden retriever sitting on couch in front of laptop

Golden retrievers and humans share ‘striking’ genetic similarities

Legume leaf fossil

Without dinosaurs, there’d be no Thanksgiving dinner

an illustration of a baby, a young woman, and adult woman, and an elderly woman walking

Your brain changes at 9, 32, 66, and 83

By Laura Baisas

a small chihuahua running

Your pet dog really does have wolf genes

By Laura Baisas

$Neanderthal human remains from the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium). Highly fragmented bones bear traces characteristic of fresh bone fracturing and percussion, demonstrating intentional treatment of the bodies. The individuals (GNx, for “Goyet Neandertal” x), numbering six at minimum, were identified by genetic analyses: XX indicates female gender, and XY male gender.. Credit: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences /Scientific Reports$

The Neanderthals who ate their neighbors