Not all orangutan mothers parent alike, according to pioneering research that tracked wild Sumatran orangutans for 15 years. The study, published Tuesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, documents for the first time how individual orangutan mothers consistently differ in their parenting approaches—even with different offspring. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal … Read more
Ever wonder if your favorite music beat has anything in common with animal sounds? Scientists just discovered something mind-blowing: the rhythm patterns in chimp drumming, human speech, and music all connect in ways we never knew before. In a study published in March 2025, researchers revealed that the mathematical tools used to analyze these different … Read more
Scientists have discovered that cuttlefish use distinct arm movements to communicate with each other, adding another dimension to these already remarkable marine creatures. Researchers from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the Italian Institute of Technology have identified specific arm gestures they’ve named “arm wave signs” that appear to serve as a communication system … Read more
Orangutans living in zoos are far more curious and investigative than their wild counterparts, engaging in more frequent, diverse, and complex exploration behaviors throughout their lives, according to groundbreaking research published in Scientific Reports. The study, which analyzed over 12,000 instances of exploratory object manipulation across 51 Sumatran orangutans ranging from six months to 76 … Read more
What if your entire personality could change within a few weeks? For social “hippie” spiders, that’s exactly what happens, according to groundbreaking research that challenges how scientists understand animal individuality. A team led by the University of Portsmouth tracked African social spiders (Stegodyphus dumicola) over four months, testing their behavior every two weeks. Unlike previous … Read more
Have you ever comforted a friend who was upset? It turns out our closest ape relatives do exactly the same thing – and in ways that challenge what scientists have believed for decades. A groundbreaking new study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior has discovered that bonobos and chimpanzees console their distressed friends … Read more
Researchers have discovered why some female lemurs have abandoned their bullying ways, pointing to changes in how the “love hormone” oxytocin affects their brains. The findings could have implications for understanding aggression in other species, including humans. In most lemur societies, females reign supreme through physical intimidation. But within one branch of the lemur family … Read more
In a remote corner of Guinea-Bissau’s Cantanhez National Park, wild chimpanzees are engaging in behavior that might feel oddly familiar to humans: sharing alcoholic treats with friends and family. For the first time, researchers have documented wild chimpanzees repeatedly eating and sharing naturally fermented African breadfruit containing measurable amounts of ethanol—what we commonly call alcohol. … Read more
Did you know that birds might be singing about who they really are? Scientists in Australia have discovered that tiny colorful birds called superb fairy-wrens actually reveal their personalities through their songs! Just like how some people are shy and others are outgoing, birds have different personalities too. Some fairy-wrens are more adventurous and curious … Read more
Wildlife doesn’t follow the rulebook when it comes to daily schedules. New research reveals that many mammals don’t stick to being strictly day or night creatures, especially in areas with increasing human presence. A groundbreaking global study analyzing nearly 9 million camera trap images across 38 countries found that long-held scientific assumptions about when animals … Read more