mammals

Killer whale OCX043 encountered with three other whales 175km west of Bandon, Oregon, on September 9, 2021 (Encounter 9). This whale was sighted previously 300 km offshore of Monterey Bay, California on January 23, 2020. Credit: Robert L. Pitman, Oregon State University.University of British Columbia researchers believe a group of killer whales observed hunting marine mammals including sperm whales, as well as a sea turtle, in the open ocean off California and Oregon could be a new population.Based on available evidence,…

New research reveals the adaptation of the H5N1 avian influenza virus to spread among birds and marine mammals, marking a significant threat to wildlife conservation and highlighting the virus’s ability to affect multiple species across South America. The research underscores the virus’s potential for human concern, driven by its rapid spread and high mortality rates among affected wildlife, including its deadly impact on marine mammals and birds across the continent.The findings have raised concerns regarding the…

Three-dimensional model of the only known picrodontid skull in top (left) and bottom (right) views. CT scan technology revealed previously unknown bones of the skull (colored on the right) that helped demonstrate that picrodontids are not primates as previously believed. Credit: Jordan CrowellA student and a professor from CUNY’s Graduate Center and Brooklyn College have pruned a branch off the primate tree.New research reveals that picrodontids, small extinct mammals, are not related to primates. This discovery, made by…

The study has recently been published in the journal PNAS. The researchers closely examined the bones of elephants that are approximately 125,000 years old and that were discovered in Gröbern in Saxony-Anhalt and Taubach in Thuringia, Germany, decades ago. They were able to identify cut marks made by stone tools used by the Neanderthals that indicate that the animals must have been hunted before they were extensively butchered.The pelvic bone of a Palaeoloxodon antiquus found in Gröbern. Credit: Lutz Kindler, LEIZAIt was…

Small wooden tree-mounted boxes for bats are an increasingly common sight in B.C.'s urban parks, often resembling birdhouses except with entrances underneath.After a string of tragedies near bat boxes, B.C. scientists teamed up to investigate.What they learned over four years, they say, has changed how we should be building summertime homes for mother bats and their pups, with the species' survival at stake."For them to to raise that young they need just-right temperatures to do so," explained study co-author Cori Lausen.…

The skull of Hippopotamus amphibius of Cava Montanari. Cranium in dorsal (A), ventral (B), right lateral (C), left lateral (D) and posterior (E) views. Mandible in occlusal (F) right lateral (G) and left lateral (H) views. Scale bar 10 cm. Credit: Mecozzi et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 New analysis settles long-standing confusion about the age of a key fossil. Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, a geological epoch that spanned from about 770,000 to 126,000 years ago. This is…

One of the rarest mammals in the world, a black rhino, was just born in broad daylight at a zoo in England, and the footage is breathtaking.For such a large newborn, the female calf landed on the soft, sandy floor of its enclosure with surprising aplomb.In a recent press release, zookeepers at Chester Zoo in Cheshire, England said the calf has barely left her mother's side since she entered the world on Sunday, November 12.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LVug5oFqo0 frameborder="0″ allow="accelerometer; autoplay;…

Steps away from the public restrooms in Yosemite Village, a buzzy stop in Yosemite National Park’s iconic valley, sits a brown metal dumpster. Visitors reach up to open the trash chute. Their peanut butter jars and apple cores tumble into a sealed compartment. The slot slams shut. Then, they clip a tethered steel carabiner through a loop, which prevents less dextrous creatures from getting access. “USE CLIP,” reads a sticker on the chute. “SAVE A BEAR.”“Bears have evolved to be these food-finding machines,” says Heather…

During the Cretaceous period 125 million years ago, a ravenous Repenomamus, an ancient mammal the size of an opossum, pounced on an unsuspecting Psittacosaurus—an herbivorous dinosaur more than three times its size. As the animals grappled, one of the mammal’s hind legs was pinned below the dinosaur as its front paw grasped the dinosaur’s beak. And the Repenomamus was sinking its teeth into the reptile’s ribcage. This duel was ultimately doomed for both mammal and dinosaur. The entwined animals were buried mid-melee by a…

Aquatic adaptations in mammals may be irreversible, according to a new study investigating the means by which more than 5,000 species transitioned from land to water.Although the evolutionary journey of animals like whales and seals can ultimately be traced back to marine tetrapods that left the ocean for a life on land, roaming terra firma again isn't on the cards for the descendants of those that have become mostly or fully aquatic.By comparing body mass, diet, and genomes of 5,635 existing and recently extinct…