Animal news, feature and articles
We live on a planet with millions of species of animals -and a rich, diverse collection of known wildlife, and yet new species are being identified seemingly every day — both living and extinct.
Whether it’s the deadliest snakes, longest-living creatures or the history of the dinosaurs, at Live Science, our expert writers are here to help you understand Earth's incredible fauna — past and present — with the latest animal news, features and articles.
Editor's Picks
-
'Closer than people think': Woolly mammoth 'de-extinction' is nearing reality — and we have no idea what happens next
-
-
How did sharks become Earth's 'ultimate survivors'? Paleontologist John Long finds answers in new book 'The Secret History of Sharks'
-
'The simplicity of life just hits you': Watch rare footage of critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla feeding her baby in the wild
-
Latest about Animals
-
-
Science news this week: Killer squirrels and an unexpected amulet
By Pandora Dewan Published
-
'Murder hornets' eradicated, but officials say they'll keep 'an eye out' for more
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Killer squirrels have developed taste for flesh — and voles are running for their lives
By Patrick Pester Published
-
270 million-year-old saber-toothed predator from 'ghost' lineage looked like a bald dog
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Worst die-off of a single species in the modern era discovered — and 'the blob' was to blame
By María de los Ángeles Orfila Published
-
Henry the giant crocodile, who has sired 10,000 babies, celebrates 124th birthday
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Chungungo: The mini sea otter that lives on rocky cliffs and mates for life
By María de los Ángeles Orfila Published
-
Explore Animals
Amphibians
-
-
'It's risky for male frogs out there': Female frog drags and attempts to eat screaming male
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
'Lovely freak of nature': Mutant blue frog hops into wildlife sanctuary workshop
By Sascha Pare Published
-
'Kermit the Frog' creature that lived 270 million years ago looked like a 'stout salamander' with 'cartoonish' grin
By Jennifer Nalewicki Published
-
Why is a mushroom growing on a frog? Scientists don't know, but it sure looks weird
By Elise Poore Published
-
Dinosaur-era frog found fossilized with belly full of eggs and was likely killed during mating
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Annual cane toad kill-a-thon is about to start in Australia. Here's how to eliminate the pests humanely.
By Sascha Pare Published
-
World's tiniest fanged frog with males that 'hug' their babies discovered
By Emma Bryce Published
-
Paradoxical frog: The giant tadpole that turns into a little frog
By Megan Shersby Published
-
Toxic pigment that causes red hair discovered in 10 million-year-old frog fossil
By Jennifer Nalewicki Published
-
Arachnids
-
-
Three remarkable spiders: A vegetarian, a vampire and a predator that uses 'pincer, fork and key'
By Ximena Nelson Published
-
REFERENCE
Wolf spiders: Behavior, bites and other facts
By Jessie Szalay Last updated
-
We now know why tarantulas are hairy — to stop army ants eating them alive
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Brazilian wandering spiders: Bites & other facts
By Jessie Szalay Last updated
-
Reference
Giant huntsman spider: The world's largest spider by leg span
By Jessie Szalay Last updated
-
Reference
Brown recluse spiders: Facts, bites & symptoms
By Laura Geggel Last updated
-
Giant, invasive Joro spiders with 6-foot webs could be poised to take over US cities, scientists warn
By Harry Baker Published
-
Diving bell spider: The only aquatic arachnid that creates a web underwater to live in
By Megan Shersby Published
-
Deadly male funnel-web spider 'Hercules' breaks record as biggest ever discovered
By Stephanie Pappas Published
-
Birds
-
-
Worst die-off of a single species in the modern era discovered — and 'the blob' was to blame
By María de los Ángeles Orfila Published
-
Weird photo captures secretary bird's third eyelid as it catches locust midflight
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand?
By Elise Poore Published
-
Mice on remote island that eat albatrosses alive sentenced to death by 'bombing,' scientists decree
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Meet 'small diver': One of the tiniest penguins ever discovered
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Nearly half a million 'invasive' owls, including their hybrid offspring, to be killed by US
By Harry Baker Published
-
Reference
12 of the biggest birds on Earth
By Scott Dutfield Last updated
-
Crows can count out loud, startling study reveals
By Ben Turner Published
-
32 of the most colorful birds on Earth
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Cnidaria
-
-
Watch 'spaghetti monster' with dozens of pink-tipped sausage legs swimming near Nazca Ridge
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Otherworldly video captures rare jellyfish with a hitchhiker in its bell
By Elise Poore Published
-
Newly discovered jellyfish is a 24-eyed weirdo related to the world's most venomous marine creature
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Alien-like giant phantom jellyfish spotted in frigid waters off Antarctica
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Thousands of cannonball jellyfish wash ashore after swarming North Carolina’s Outer Banks
By Jennifer Nalewicki Published
-
Thousands of jellyfish swarm near Israel, mesmerizing images reveal
By Jamie Carter Published
-
Largest crown jellyfish ever discovered is a blood red, saucer-like weirdo
By Brandon Specktor Published
-
Scientists inserted disco 'strobe lights' into jellyfish to see how they function without brains
By Nicoletta Lanese Published
-
Giant 'phantom jellyfish' that eats with mouth-arms spotted off California coast
By Ben Turner Published
-
Crustaceans
-
-
Large, ghostly white crab-like predator discovered at the bottom of the Atacama Trench
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
1-in-100 million 'cotton candy' lobster caught off New Hampshire alive and well at aquarium
By Tiffany Taylor Published
-
'You can see its guts and things': Weird see-through crustacean with giant eyes discovered off the Bahamas
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Crabs keep evolving to go from the sea to the land — and back again
By Carys Matthews Published
-
More than 10 billion snow crabs starved to death off the coast of Alaska. But why?
By Sascha Pare Published
-
'Hauntingly beautiful' image of a golden horseshoe crab wins wildlife photography competition
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Hoff crab: The hairy-chested crustacean that farms bacteria on its hairs
By Megan Shersby Published
-
Pom pom crab: The crustacean that uses anemones as boxing gloves
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Watch cannibal crab gobble up baby crablets in Australia in David Attenborough's 'Our Planet II'
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Extinct Species
-
-
270 million-year-old saber-toothed predator from 'ghost' lineage looked like a bald dog
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever now on display in New York City
By Stephanie Pappas Published
-
Dinosaur puke and poop help reveal how they took over the world
By Pandora Dewan Published
-
Largest dinosaur ever auctioned sells for over $6 million — and it's twice as long as a school bus
By Harry Baker Published
-
35,000-year-old saber-toothed kitten with preserved whiskers pulled from permafrost in Siberia
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Mammoth quiz: Test your knowledge of the ice age beasts
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Cretaceous 'Pompeii' of China isn't what we thought
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Armored dinosaur could withstand the impact of a high-speed car crash, thanks to the 'bulletproof vest' over its plate armor
By Sierra Bouchér Published
-
A giant crocodilian killed the largest 'terror bird' ever found, 12 million years ago
By Sierra Bouchér Published
-
Fish
-
-
'Mega momma' great white shark killed on drumline may reveal secrets about iconic predator
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Shark quiz: How much do you know about these iconic ocean superstars?
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Incredibly rare, ghostly white shark discovered off Albania
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
380 million-year-old remains of giant fish found in Australia. Its 'living fossil' descendant, the coelacanth, is still alive today.
By Richard Cloutier Published
-
Northern sea robin: The bizarre fish with crab legs it uses to taste the seafloor
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Stunning video shows sharks devouring sea urchins, spines and all
By Jeremy Day Published
-
Alligator gar: The 'living fossil' that has barely evolved for 100 million years
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
How did sharks become Earth's 'ultimate survivors'? Paleontologist John Long finds answers in new book 'The Secret History of Sharks'
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Angular roughshark: The pig-faced shark that grunts when captured
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Insects
-
-
'Murder hornets' eradicated, but officials say they'll keep 'an eye out' for more
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Plastic-eating mealworms native to Africa discovered
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Watch mesmerizing video of weird waves that 'shape life itself' inside a fly embryo
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Parasitic 'horror' wasp that bursts from a fly's abdomen like an 'Alien' xenomorph discovered in Mississippi backyard
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Kamikaze termites blow themselves up with 'explosive' backpacks — and scientists just figured out how
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
These bacteria trigger a sex change in wasps — scientists finally know how
By Tiffany Taylor Published
-
Panda ant: The wasps whose black and white females have giant stingers and parasitic babies
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Ants perform life saving operations — the only animal other than humans known to do so
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Butterflies cross Atlantic ocean on 2,600-mile non-stop flight never recorded in any insect before
By Ben Turner Published
-
Land Mammals
-
-
Killer squirrels have developed taste for flesh — and voles are running for their lives
By Patrick Pester Published
-
How do cats get their spots?
By Ashley P. Taylor Published
-
Do cats communicate with their tails?
By Clarissa Brincat Published
-
Mountain lions in Los Angeles are becoming nocturnal to avoid humans
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Smarter dogs have smaller brains, surprising study reveals
By Olivia Ferrari Published
-
Vampire bats have a really strange way of getting energy, scientists discover after putting them on treadmills
By Elise Poore Published
-
We finally know why dogs shake when they're wet
By Stephanie Pappas Published
-
Cats are better at word association than human babies are, study finds
By Victoria Atkinson Published
-
Polar bears are getting horrific injuries and huge 'ice balls' on their paws because of climate change, researchers say
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Marine Mammals
-
-
Male humpback whale crossed 3 oceans for sex, inadvertently breaking distance record for species
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Orca gang develops brutal hunting strategy to take on the world's largest shark — 'This is a fascinating behaviour'
By Pandora Dewan Published
-
Orcas start wearing dead salmon hats again after ditching the trend for 37 years
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Orca quiz: Will you sink or swim?
By Christina Hughes Published
-
Dolphin in the Baltic Sea has been talking to himself — and researchers think it's a sign he's lonely
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Mysterious sound coming from the Mariana Trench has finally been explained
By Harry Baker Published
-
Sexually frustrated dolphin behind spate of attacks on humans off Japan
By Patrick Pester Published
-
Boat-ramming orcas may be using yachts as target practice toys, scientists suggest
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Watch heartbreaking footage of humpback whale with missing tail in Washington state
By Elise Poore Published
-
Mollusks
-
-
'She turns her siphon into a gun': Watch coconut octopus firing stones at fish in world-1st footage
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Octopuses burn more calories changing color than you use on a 25-minute run
By Pandora Dewan Published
-
Glowing mystery sea slug that feeds like a Venus fly trap captured in deep sea footage for 1st time
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Watch extremely rare footage of a bigfin squid 'walking' on long, spindly arms deep in the South Pacific
By Sascha Pare Published
-
Pacific geoduck: The large, phallic clam that can live longer than 165 years
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Never-before-seen vampire squid species discovered in twilight zone of South China Sea
By Richard Pallardy Published
-
Rare video shows elusive deep-sea squid cradling her gigantic, translucent eggs
By Kristel Tjandra Published
-
Elusive 'octopus squid' with world's largest biological lights attacks camera in striking new video
By Elise Poore Published
-
Watch female octopus drag male around during sex in rare footage captured off Indonesian island
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Reptiles
-
-
Henry the giant crocodile, who has sired 10,000 babies, celebrates 124th birthday
By Jacklin Kwan Published
-
Cantor's giant softshell turtle: The frog-faced predator that spends 95% of its time completely motionless
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Gharial: The prehistoric crocodilian that buzzes and blows bubbles to find a mate
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
King cobra mystery that's puzzled scientists for 188 years finally solved
By Elise Poore Published
-
Crocodile quiz: Test your knowledge on the prehistoric predators
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Scientists to read Cassius the giant crocodile's bones to find out exactly how old he was when he died
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
Cassius, the world's biggest captive crocodile, may have been over 120 years old when he died
By Melissa Hobson Published
-
'Truly primal': Watch Burmese python swallow deer whole in Florida Everglades by stretching its mouth to the absolute limit
By Hannah Osborne Published
-
Short-horned lizard: The inflatable 'horny toad' that squirts toxic blood from its eyes
By Lydia Smith Published
-