animals

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>

For This Animal, Incest Is Safest Bet

Banded mongoose risks survival in mating outside native group

(Newser) - Mammals tend to avoid incest as a rule, mainly due to the resulting health issues in offspring. There are exceptions, however, and a team of researchers has discovered—for the banded mongoose, at least—incest isn't always such a bad idea. The animals have an oddly high degree of...

Researchers Figure Out How Cows &#39;Talk&#39;
 Researchers 
 Figure Out How 
 Cows 'Talk' 
new study
Dec 18, 2014 8:24 AM CST

Researchers Figure Out How Cows 'Talk'

They uncover what 'moo' really means

(Newser) - The ability to communicate between a mother and her offspring isn't just between humans. Scientists in England have found that cows share the same bond with their calves and get their message across through their moos, the BBC reports. "A calf certainly knows its mother from other cows,...

Mexico Lawmakers Ban Circus Animals
Mexico Lawmakers
Ban Circus Animals
Dec 12, 2014 3:30 PM CST

Mexico Lawmakers Ban Circus Animals

Overwhelming vote aimed at fighting mistreatment of animals

(Newser) - Mexico's congress has passed legislation to ban the use of animals in circuses across the country. The lower chamber's vote yesterday followed one earlier in the week by the Senate and came six months after Mexico City passed a similar ban that is to go into effect next...

Horses, Rhinos Have Roots in Ancient India

Fossil discovery offers clues to ancient past

(Newser) - Back when the Indian subcontinent was still an island—before it joined what is now the rest of Asia—it was home to ancestors of today's horses and rhinoceroses, a new study suggests. Both modern animals are members of a biological order known as Perissodactyla, or "odd-toed ungulates,...

In Bat Battles, Rivals Jam Each Other's Sonar

Study identifies technique for first time in Mexican free-tailed bats

(Newser) - Bats don't mess around when it comes to food fights—they can prevent rivals from snagging prey by emitting a noise that essentially jams the other bat's sonar. One researcher discovered the tactic for the first time among the Mexican free-tailed bat, which, like all bats, uses "...

Elephants May Know When It's Raining 150 Miles Away

GPS study suggests they head toward storms

(Newser) - Maybe the Weather Channel should start hiring elephants. A study in PLoS ONE suggests the creatures can detect rainstorms happening 150 miles away, possibly by hearing them even from that far off. Migrating elephants are known to change direction out of the blue, and researchers haven't been certain why....

Monarch Origin Shocks Scientists

Study finds Monarch butterflies started out in North America

(Newser) - Monarch butterflies are famous for migrating from the US and Canada to Mexico for the winter. Now a surprising study in Nature suggests the species itself also started out in North America some 2 million years ago. A researcher from the University of Chicago says monarchs were widely thought to...

Hungry Bears Get Desperate in Sierra Nevada

9 captured in 2 days

(Newser) - If you live near the Sierra Nevada, your chance of running into a bear has apparently spiked: Nine have been captured in the area over the last two days, while another was killed by a car. In the fall months, bears can eat up to 25,000 calories a day—...

4 Crazy Rich, Famous Pets
 4 Crazy Rich, 
 Famous Pets 
Sep 21, 2014 1:25 PM CDT

4 Crazy Rich, Famous Pets

Including Paris Hilton's $13K puppy

(Newser) - It's good to be a celebrity ... pet. OK! magazine runs down seven of the richest and/or most expensive famous animals:
  • Paris Hilton spent $13,000 on a teeny-tiny Pomeranian, Mr. Amazing, who weighs less than one pound.
  • Lauren Bacall loved her pup Sophie so much that when she died
...

TB&#39;s Arrival in New World: Blame Seals
 TB's Arrival 
 in New World: 
 Blame Seals 
STUDY SAYS
Aug 21, 2014 1:01 PM CDT

TB's Arrival in New World: Blame Seals

New study also suggests TB is only 6K years old

(Newser) - Tuberculosis may have reached the New World long before Christopher Columbus ever sailed the ocean blue, a new study suggests. Scientists have examined 1,000-year-old Peruvian bones mysteriously infected with TB—500 years before the arrival of Spaniards, who are historically blamed for bringing TB to the New World, Nature ...

Owl Breaks Into Couple's Birdcage, Kills Canary

Apartment was on 10th floor; second canary survives

(Newser) - An owl flew into a 10th story apartment in Coeur d'Alene, apparently opened a bird cage, and killed one of two canaries inside. Sue Sausser says she awakened Sunday to find bird droppings and feathers all over her apartment, the Coeur d'AlenePress reports. Sausser found the brownish, yellow-eyed...

Biggest Gator Ever Caught Topped 1K Lbs., Broke Scale

Alabama hunters killed a massive 15-foot alligator over weekend

(Newser) - A group of Alabama hunters are celebrating the catch of a lifetime: A 15-foot-long alligator weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Al.com reports the monster gator was pulled from the water in south Alabama early Saturday during the state's alligator hunting season. Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries biologists...

Woman in Big Trouble for Slapping Police Horse

Selma Gonzalez says she was only petting the horse

(Newser) - It was a tough night for police horse Greyhawk. He was on duty outside the International Boutique Nightclub in Scottsdale last month when Selma Iris Gonzalez, 25, allegedly slapped him on the butt. The slap was loud enough to be heard even over the noise from the bar, reports AZ...

Octopus Love Involves Strangulation, Cannibalism

Scientists observe one killing, eating her partner

(Newser) - Some guys fall asleep after a little love-making. But if you’re a male octopus, that nap can be more like eternal rest. Two scientists have detailed how carnal relations between a lady octopus and her lover can prove fatal for the male, especially if he’s not that well-endowed,...

Scores of Dead Rats Found in Arizona Trailer

Jeffrey Wendorff allegedly abandoned them after business dispute

(Newser) - It was a scene whose appearance was likely rivaled only by its smell: An Arizona man is facing animal cruelty charges after Yavapai County sheriff’s deputies, acting on a tip, discovered scores of dead or dying rats in and around a trailer, Reuters reports; a pen in the trailer'...

Drug Lord&#39;s Hippos Breeding Out of Control

 Drug Lord's Hippos 
 Breeding Out of Control 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 29, 2014 11:01 AM CDT

Drug Lord's Hippos Breeding Out of Control

Pablo Escobar's foreign beasts terrifying fisherman, eating crops

(Newser) - Colombia is facing an overpopulation issue: a famed drug lord's herd of hippos keeps expanding. Pablo Escobar built himself a zoo in the 1980s, smuggling in a host of exotic animals, including one male and three female hippos. Now, 20 years after the drug boss's death, the hippos...

Reason for Cool Monkey Faces? Safe Breeding

Guenons' distinctive features help prevent interbreeding, say researchers

(Newser) - Guenon monkeys are renowned for their colorful, distinctive faces, which vary from species to species. The reason? It's all part of a strategy to help the monkeys identify their own species and avoid crossbreeding with others, new research finds. Guenon monkeys, sometimes known as cheek pouch monkeys, are a...

New York: No More Tattoos—for Pets

Bill banning pet tattoos and piercings expected to become law

(Newser) - Apparently tattooing pets is a thing. At least, it's popular enough that New York passed a bill on Wednesday banning owners from inking up companion animals. Piercings are off the table, too, according to the bill, which was introduced in 2011 by Linda Rosenthal, an assemblywoman who read an...

Rescued Goat Overjoyed at Reunion With ... Burro

Mr. G and Jellybean are together again

(Newser) - The video is like one of those tear-jerker Budweiser Super Bowl ads with animals, but this one happens to be real. It's about a goat named Mr. G who got rescued from squalor and transported to the Animal Place sanctuary in Vacaville, California, reports Fox . Problem was, rescuers didn'...

Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought
Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought
studies say
May 18, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought

And, in the case of apes, using touchscreens apparently

(Newser) - We humans have some pretty big britches when it comes to our intellectual prowess, thinking our high-falutin' language gives us the unique ability to grasp abstract concepts and make connections. But research increasingly shows that animals can do the same, Scientific American reports. In a remarkable experiment last fall, researchers...

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