Marine biologists have identified a new species of the shark genus Hemiscyllium in the waters of eastern Papua New Guinea, expanding a remarkable group of reef-dwelling sharks known for using their four fins to ‘walk’ across the seafloor.

The post New Species of Walking Shark Discovered off Papua New Guinea appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Two elusive groups of millipedes, Siphoniulida and Siphonocryptida, were the last missing pieces in the evolutionary history of Earth’s oldest land animals, according to a team of entomologists led by Virginia Tech.

The post Entomologists Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Millipedes appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Hundreds of camera-trap records from Bolivia and Peru suggest the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis), one of the world’s least-known canids and one of Latin America’s least-known carnivores, may be thriving in intact upland forests.

The post Amazon’s Elusive Short-Eared Dog May Be More Common than Researchers Once Thought appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Researchers have obtained the first-ever photographs of the Cozumel dwarf fox (Urocyon sp.), an elusive dwarf fox living on the Caribbean island of Cozumel, off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Captured in September 2023, the images provide the first confirmed evidence since 2001 that the elusive animal still survives on the island.

The post Scientists Capture First-Ever Images of Cozumel Dwarf Fox appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The extinct Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and today’s African and Asian lions (Panthera leo) belong to separate evolutionary lineages that diverged roughly 1.7 million years ago -- far earlier than previously thought, according to an analysis of 12 cave lion genomes spanning more than 100,000 years.

The post Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In new research, scientists sequenced and analyzed chromosome-level genomes of the Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and the southern anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla).

The post Secret to Sloths’ Slow Life May Lie in Ancient ‘Jumping Genes’ appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A small songbird inhabiting the Babar Islands, in the Banda Sea, Indonesia, has been identified as a new species after a duo of researchers discovered that its distinctive song sets it apart from its closest relative.

The post Ornithologists Describe New Bird Species from Remote Indonesian Islands appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Deep in the mountains of northern Taiwan, a towering Taiwania cryptomerioides -- a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae whose ancestors date back 100 million years -- has been confirmed as the tallest known tree in East Asia.

The post After Decade-Long Hunt, Scientists Find East Asia’s Tallest Tree appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Euplotes gigatrox, a new species of ciliate collected from a seawater filtration system on the Caribbean Island of Curaçao, can transform into a cannibalistic ‘supergiant,’ raising new questions about the complexity of life at the microscopic scale.

The post When Food Runs Short, This Single-Celled Organism Turns into Giant Cannibal to Survive appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Scientists have identified supermagnetic macrophages in the livers of homing pigeons (Columba livia domestica) that appear essential for navigation when the Sun is not visible, pointing to an entirely new mechanism for animal magnetoreception.

The post Pigeons May Sense Earth’s Magnetic Field Using Superparamagnetic Immune Cells in Their Livers appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A marine biologist studying the photophores of a bioluminescent fish species found needle-shaped guanine crystals that scatter and redirect light instead of merely reflecting it, a discovery that could inspire more efficient biomedical and optical devices.

The post Bioluminescent Deep-Sea Fish Use Crystal ‘Prisms’ to Recycle Their Own Glow appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A single female specimen, collected 1,773 m below the surface near Darwin Island, has been described as a new species of deep-sea octopus, and it doesn’t fit neatly into the Megaleledonidae family it belongs to, forcing a revision of the textbook definition.

The post New Species of Octopus Discovered in Deep Waters near Galapagos Islands appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New research led by scientists from the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) suggests cows (Bos taurus taurus) can distinguish between known and unknown people, and even match a familiar voice to the correct face.

The post Cows Can Recognize Familiar Human Faces, New Study Finds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

When an antenna of the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is touched with a heated probe, something curious happens: the insect turns its attention to the burned spot, grooming it repeatedly, for far longer than it would after a harmless touch or no contact at all.

The post Insects May Feel Pain, New Study Suggests appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Entomologists have discovered that carpenter ants -- the largest genus within the stingless ant subfamily Formicinae -- produce dozens of previously unknown venom peptides with antifungal properties.

The post Formicine Ants Produce Hidden Arsenal of Venom Peptides, Study Finds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A large genetic survey reveals that the country’s so-called ‘wild dogs’ remain predominantly dingo, reshaping debates over conservation and wildlife management.

The post Most Australia’s ‘Wild Dogs’ Are Actually Dingoes, DNA Study Finds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A study of radiation fog events over Pennsylvania has found that bacteria living inside fog droplets are actively growing and feeding on toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, revealing an unexpected biological force at work in the atmosphere.

The post Tiny Bacteria in the Fog May Be Helping Clean the Air appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

For decades, scientists treated the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) as a single species split into two broad populations.

The post Rare New Zealand Penguins Are Three Distinct Subspecies, New Study Shows appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Genetic evidence suggests the familiar seabird is actually four separate species -- including one previously unknown to science -- with three now facing growing climate threats.

The post Gentoo Penguins Aren’t One Species After All appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

By mapping millions of smell-sensing neurons in mice, scientists discovered precise striped patterns inside the nose, overturning decades-old assumptions about how olfaction is wired.

The post Researchers Create Detailed Map of Smell Receptors in Mouse Nose appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.