Nature and ecology
Natural History is Science Blog's desk for the living world. Animals, evolution, and ecology, reported from the field science and the papers rather than the press releases.
When rain finally broke a 500-year drought in the Atacama, it brought catastrophe to the microbes adapted to thrive in absolute aridity.
Aug 14, 2026
Hibernating bears sleep twice as much as summer bears despite running on a quarter power, upending assumptions about metabolic shutdown.
Aug 13, 2026
The discovery raises tantalizing questions about ancient Mediterranean trade routes and what other riches might still lie buried beneath the waves.
Aug 13, 2026
Nature's most extreme marriage: the male anglerfish sacrifices his body to become a permanent organ fused to his mate's flesh.
Aug 12, 2026
Scientists have dramatically underestimated how many species experience menopause—and new evidence reveals why older females matter more than we thought.
Aug 11, 2026
A river in the Peruvian Amazon reaches about 86 degrees Celsius despite lying more than 700 kilometres from an active volcano. The leading explanation is a fault-fed, non-volcanic hydrothermal system.
Aug 8, 2026
A newborn placed on a scale weighs less than a Thanksgiving turkey and carries inside that small body roughly 300 separate bones.
Aug 8, 2026
