Creatures living in our cities are evolving in some surprising ways

From mosquitoes and rats to foxes and birds, the urban environment is transforming animals that live among us – but which new species should we expect next? Life 9 March 2022 By Rob Dunn Pigeons, as well as crows, jays and owls, are thriving in the urban jungle Bjorn Grotting/Alamy TO THE naturalist in me, … Read more

Bringing back the woolly mammoth and other extinct creatures may be impossible | Science

An extinct rat that once lived on an island in the Indian Ocean may have put the kibosh on scientists’ dreams of resurrecting more famous extinct animals like the woolly mammoth. The Christmas Island rat disappeared just over 100 years ago, but researchers now say even its detailed genome isn’t complete enough to bring it … Read more

Bizarre 300-Year-Old Mummified ‘Mermaid’ Can Finally Be Explained

Researchers in Japan are investigating the origins of a nightmarish, 300-year-old mummified ‘mermaid‘, which has been worshipped for centuries due to its supposed medicinal properties.   The haunting remains are most likely a gruesome amalgam of a monkey’s torso sewed onto a fish’s tail, potentially embellished with hair and nails from a human.  Hiroshi Kinoshita, board member … Read more

Donkeylike creatures may be first known hybrid animal made by humans | Science

In the third millennium B.C.E., a strange group of donkeylike creatures was buried alongside royals in an ancient city east of what is now Aleppo, Syria. Archaeologists reckoned the animals were “kungas,” a rare type of ass highly prized by Bronze Age Mesopotamian elites. Yet their true biological identity has remained a mystery. Now, a … Read more

Why cat-like creatures vanished from North America for 6 million years

By Chelsea Whyte Ken Barber/Alamy; Schankz/Shutterstock; Advia Image/Shutterstock; Koktaro/Shutterstock LOOKING out over an expanse of scrubby sagebrush, it is hard to imagine that the high desert in eastern Oregon was once home to large creatures that resembled sabre-toothed cats. The land here is mostly dry and grassy, punctuated by sharp hills. There isn’t a lot … Read more

Shockingly Abundant Life Found Thriving in Darkness Under an Antarctic Ice Shelf

Deep under the ice of Antarctica’s Ekström Ice Shelf there is nothing but complete darkness. Well, complete darkness and a thriving ecosystem that’s existed for thousands of years, according to a new paper by researchers from the UK and Germany.   “This discovery of so much life living in these extreme conditions is a complete … Read more

Scientists Catch a Mesmerizing Glimpse of a Super-Rare Giant Phantom Jelly

A deepwater robot, humming through the twilight zone of Monterey Bay, has managed to capture incredibly rare video footage of a giant phantom jelly. In 34 years of conducting deep sea studies, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has sent out remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the deep sea on thousands of occasions, and … Read more