Richard Pallardy

Scientists discover what appears to be the second known living species of vampire squid swimming in deep water off Hainan island, China.

Research on whether animals can recognize themselves in the mirror began in 1970 1 and just a handful of species have since passed the test ever since.

The baobab tree evolved on the island of Madagascar before eventually spreading to Africa and Australia, new research suggests.

Ancient zircon crystals hold chemical clues that of freshwater may have existed on Earth soon after it formed.

Dice snakes theatrically stage their own deaths, using blood and feces to convince predators they've shuffled off their mortal coils.

Arabica coffee plant appears to have evolved between 600,000 and 1 million years ago after two other coffee species crossbred in the forests of what is now Ethiopia.

Newly discovered ichthyosaur that lived 200 million years ago in the Triassic sea is potentially the biggest to ever live, scientists say.

Anglerfish first colonized the ocean's midnight zone 55 million years ago, during a period of extreme global warming, a new study finds. The bizarre fish adapted to thrive in the deep sea by becoming sexual parasites, the researchers said.

Beluga whales appear to change the shape of their heads during encounters with one another in what scientists believe is a form of visual communication among this highly social species.

Gars have the slowest rate of evolution of all jawed vertebrates, having barely changed since first appearing at the time of the dinosaurs.

Wollemi pines — thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago — were rediscovered in 1994. Scientists are now hoping to reintroduce the species in the wild in a conservation effort that could take centuries.

Dinosaurs may have ruled Earth for over 160 million years because the way they walked gave them a big advantage during the drying climate of the Triassic.

Przewalski's horses cloned from a stallion that died in 1998 could help reintroduce much needed diversity to the species that was once declared extinct in the wild.

Pink fairy armadillos, which are just 6 inches long, appear to have evolved a strange double skin millions of years ago as they moved underground in response to the climate becoming more arid.

Aggressive little male fish from Indonesia turn black when angry to show their dominance, scientists discover.

Ocean pout live in frigid waters from Labrador in Canada to North Carolina and have evolved a blood protein that serves as antifreeze.

Scientists have worked out how Japanese green syllids grow a butt with a brain that can swim away to reproduce.

Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen hydrothermal vent teeming with life off the Galápagos Islands by following a long trail of squat lobsters.

Elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park appear to call to each other with individual names using low, complex "rumbles," a study has found.

Scientists have discovered something strange happened to starfish over the course of their evolution, and they ended up as heads scampering around the seafloor.

An 8-year-old girl discovered the bones of a woolly mammoth and a prehistoric bison after a landslide along the banks of a river in western Russia.

The extra legs caterpillars have appear have origins in the primitive crustaceans that insects evolved from during the Ordovician period over 400 million years ago.

These weird-looking stocky mammals roam Alpine zones and forested valleys in Asia, using their specially adapted split hooves help them traverse the steep, rocky terrain.

In the 1990s, a group of juvenile bull sharks were left stranded in a golf course pond in Australia, where they thrived for decades. Now scientists are trying to understand why.

Crocodiles appeared to rescue a dog that had been chased into a river, and scientists said this unusual behavior could indicate empathy — but others are skeptical.