Animal science

This stunning image of a bearded dragon soaking up the rays in southern Australian has taken out the overall prize in the 2024 British Ecology Society's photography competition, an annual contest open to any nature snapper around the globe.

Incredibly, for the first time, scientists have unraveled how static electricity works, something first recorded in 600 BCE but not fully understood until now. While cats are not the only culprits, their fur is a prime vessel for charging your hands.

A humble little lizard has developed a clever escape route from predators – it blows a bubble over its nostrils and scuba dives to safety for 20 minutes or more. Now, a biologist has explored exactly how it works.

From 350,757 coin flips to prove probability to the swimming skills of dead trout, the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize winners have been recognized for their absurd work scientific research. And they all walked away with a coveted $100-trillion Zimbabwean banknote.

Last year, it was discovered the bluestreak cleaner wrasse could pass the "mirror test", showing that it can recognize its own face in a mirror. Now researchers have found it can actually size itself up against a potential competitor before a fight.

Seeing a wombat in regional Australia is not a rare experience, but when ecologists captured this particular one emerging from a den and casually wandering past a motion-sensor camera in the middle of the night, there was serious cause for celebration.

While some pet owners may disagree, it's widely accepted that around 80% of dogs will "play fetch" with their humans. But scientists have now discovered that almost half of house cats will also chase and return objects to their owners.

Despite what you might say when drunk, you’re not the best backflipper in the world. That honor belongs to a tiny little bug called a globular springtail, whose superfast backflips have now been caught on slow-motion camera for the first time.

The fossil of an extremely unlucky dugong has been uncovered. The old sea cow had a pretty bad day about 20 million years ago when it was eaten by both a crocodile and a shark.

Some species have an incredible knack for hacking others to get what they want. Scientists have now discovered a fascinating new example – some spiders have been seen manipulating fireflies’ flashes to attract more bugs to their webs.

A fascinating new insight into elephant communication has been uncovered, revealing that males will harmonize rumbles, from one to the next, to signal that it's time for everyone to move on. Researchers liken it to a barbershop quartet.

How do we separate the movie myths of Tyrannosaurus rex from the actual animal? The Victoria the T-rex exhibition sets the record straight with recent discoveries about what T-rex looked and sounded like, how it sensed the world, and how it hunted.