Forget dogs: These rats could be the future of search and rescue | Science

Think search and rescue animal, and you’re likely to picture a dog in an orange vest. But a Tanzanian nonprofit wants you to imagine something else: the African giant pouched rat. Donna Kean and her colleagues at APOPO, a nonprofit that trains pouched rats to save lives, have spent the past 2 decades working with … Read more

Who’d Win a Fight Between a Dingo And a Wolf? An Expert Weighs In

Imagine two of the world’s most iconic canids – a dingo and a wolf – head to head in a fight. Who would win? Before we examine the combatants in more detail, we need to answer an important question first, which wolf and which dingo? Taxonomy – the way we describe, name and classify Earth’s … Read more

Dogs Understand an Average of 89 Unique Words And Phrases, New Research Shows

The way dogs have come to understand the nuances of human language is incredibly impressive for an animal that doesn’t speak words itself. Just a fraction of a second after we start saying a word – like ‘walk’ or ‘treat’ – dogs can predict and respond to what we are trying to say. To some … Read more