animals

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Dinosaurs Were Much Skinnier: Scientists

New weight-estimation technique is shedding pounds off the ancient lizards

(Newser) - Dinosaurs were skinnier than we thought. Using advancements in scanning and computing, scientists have developed a new technique for estimating the weight and size of fossilized creatures. The more accurate method shows that the giant lizards were not nearly as chubby as paleontologists once believed, reports Discovery News via MSNBC...

Birds Basically Baby Dinosaurs


 Birds Basically 
 Baby Dinosaurs 
study says
Jun 3, 2012 4:45 PM CDT

Birds Basically Baby Dinosaurs

Research cements link between creatures

(Newser) - Don't look now, but there may be dinosaurs on your front lawn. Research into early bird and dinosaur tissue has shown that birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than we had thought, Discovery reports. "By analyzing fossil evidence from skeletons, eggs, and soft tissue of bird-like dinosaurs...

White-Nose Disease Could Kill Off Gray Bats

And that's bad news for economy, environment

(Newser) - Another species of bat is suffering from white-nose syndrome —and the fungus threatens the animal's extinction within just two years. Unlike other species suffering from the disease, gray bats live in caves throughout the year, and the disease "could spread exponentially through the cave," a Missouri...

Zoos Choose Which Species Live, Which Ones Die

Zoo directors try to strike a balance with entertaining the public

(Newser) - To be or not to be: That is increasingly the question for American zoos, which have to choose whether entire species live or die, the New York Times reports. With many species facing extinction, zoos are being asked to preserve the most endangered, a mission that can conflict with their...

Top 10 Newly Discovered Species

Including a mushroom named for SpongeBob

(Newser) - Roughly 18,000 new species were discovered last year, and scientists at Arizona State University have compiled a list of their 10 favorites. A sample, from the Arizona Republic :

Tiny Guam Battles 2 Million Snakes

Brown tree snakes are killing native species and biting humans

(Newser) - Two million snakes have taken over the tiny island of Guam, with devastating consequences. Described by the BBC as "one of the most successful invasive species ever," the the brown tree snake is believed to have first slithered onto the 30-mile-long US territory 60 years ago, likely carried...

Video Alleges Abuse at Pig Farm

Humane Society footage prompts investigation in Wyoming

(Newser) - Wyoming officials are investigating alleged animal abuse at a pig farm after a secret video of conditions there was released. In the footage, workers are seen punching, kicking, and jumping on pigs and tossing piglets, reports CBS in Denver . Other pigs have untreated abscesses, notes the Huffington Post . The footage...

Jellyfish-Like Creatures Shut Down Nuclear Plant

Sea salp invade Diablo Canyon

(Newser) - A horde of jellyfish-like animals has forced the shutdown of a nuclear power plant in California. The gelatinous creatures, 2 to 3 inches long, are called sea salp. The crisis began Tuesday, when workers at the Diablo Canyon plant discovered that screens which take in cooling water were clogged by...

Why Woodpeckers' Brains Don't Burst

Scientists found a spongy plate that protects the birds' brains

(Newser) - After jackhammering their heads into trees all day, how is it that woodpeckers don't head home with the mother of all headaches, much less brain injury? The key is an astonishingly strong skull, say researchers in Beijing. Scientists discovered that the birds' skulls are insulated with a remarkably thick,...

How Old Is That Giraffe? Check Its Spots

They get darker around the time of puberty

(Newser) - You can tell how old a male giraffe is by looking at its spots, according to a new study. Researchers looked at 33 years of data on Thornicroft giraffes in Zambia and discovered that the level of darkness of the animal's brown blotches reveals its age, reports BBC Nature...

Mystery Dolphin Die-Off Hits Peru

Acoustic impact or virus could be to blame

(Newser) - Something mysterious is killing thousands of dolphins in Peru. Since January, an estimated 2,800 of the sea creatures have been found dead on Peru's northern beaches, reports Scientific American . Experts believe the mass die-off could be caused by acoustic interference stirred up by oil testing or possibly a...

Nightmare Zoo's Giraffe Dies, Stomach Full of Plastic

Overcrowding, infighting plague Indonesian facility

(Newser) - The death of a giraffe that had 40 pounds of plastic in its stomach—it ate trash routinely tossed into its pen—is just the latest crisis at Indonesia's biggest zoo. Two years back, a report said 25 of Surabaya Zoo's animals were dying monthly; that figure has...

Report: PETA Kills 95% of Pets It Takes In

84% put down within 24 hours at Virginia headquarters: documents

(Newser) - PETA's controversial campaigns for animal rights dominate headlines—but behind the scenes, the picture is quite different, according to newly released documents. Last year, the organization killed more than 95% of the pets in its charge at its Norfolk, Va., headquarters, the Daily Caller reports. Documents released by the...

Scientists Find New Species of Amphibians

Limbless creatures look like earthworms

(Newser) - Scientists have unearthed a brand-new, weird-looking species of amphibians in northeastern India. The creatures, named chikilidae, live deep in the dirt and are limbless, reports Nature , which notes that they look more like worms than, say, frogs or salamanders. “The discovery adds a major branch to the amphibian tree...

Goats Have Accents: Study
 Goats Have Accents: Study 
Feb 16, 2012 9:51 AM CST

Goats Have Accents: Study

Goats' 'voices' not entirely genetic, change over time, scientists say

(Newser) - It turns out accents aren't just for people from Long Island: Goats have them as well, a team of British researchers has demonstrated. Until now, experts had assumed that goats' "voices" were dictated entirely by genetics. Genetics do play a role, the researchers found, as siblings had similar...

Ship Noise Stressing Out Whales

 Ship Noise 
 Stressing Out 
 Whales 
study says
Feb 10, 2012 3:14 PM CST

Ship Noise Stressing Out Whales

Right whales may be getting sick and not reproducing as a result

(Newser) - A group of whales in Canada is being stressed out by noise emanating from ship traffic, a new study suggests, and the stress may be harming the whales' immune system and making it harder for them to reproduce. Scientists measured the stress hormones in the poop of right whales in...

Scientists Find Monkeys Thought to Be Extinct

And they weren't even looking for them

(Newser) - Scientists have stumbled upon a monkey many thought no longer existed. Seeking leopards and orangutans, the researchers placed camera traps in an Indonesian forest. When they checked the pictures, they were astonished to see images of large gray monkeys none had ever seen before, the AP reports. Photographs of the...

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?
 Can Birdsong 
 Cut Crime? 
Jan 17, 2012 3:30 PM CST

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?

California mayor says it already has

(Newser) - Crime has dropped in a California town, and residents should be thanking their fine feathered friends, says the mayor. Last year, he began piping recorded birdsong to 70 speakers on a highway. Minor crime dropped 15% from 2010 while serious crimes dropped 6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's...

'Extinct' Galapagos Tortoise Still Alive

DNA shows that species thought wiped out in 1840s is on different island

(Newser) - Scientists have located survivors of a giant Galapagos tortoise species thought to have gone extinct back in the 1840s. Researchers testing the DNA of 1,600 tortoises on Isabela Island in the Galapagos discovered that at least 84 were offspring of a species that originally lived on nearby Floreana Island,...

Meet the World's Newest Snake: Matilda

Matilda's Horned Viper, to be precise

(Newser) - A brand-new species of snake sports yellow and black scales, two spiked horns, and a pretty cool name: Matilda's Horned Viper. Scientists discovered it in Tanzania two years ago and it got introduced last month as the world's newest snake species. It's only the third new snake...

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