Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2022

Scientists dismiss Coyote Peterson's 'large primate skull' discovery as fake

A large primate skull was allegedly found in British Columbia by American YouTuber Coyote Peterson, according to social media posts he shared on Thursday (July 7). In those posts, Peterson wrote that he had hid the discovery for several weeks from government officials and any others who might try to...

Mar 31, 2022

Dingoes are part domestic dog, part wolf (sort of)

Dingoes are Australia's largest land predator, but their evolutionary history has been shrouded in mystery and debated for decades. Now, a new study finds that they are genetically somewhere between a wolf and a modern domestic dog. Researchers sequenced the genome of a pure dingo puppy that was discovered alive...

Jan 31, 2022

Facts about donkeys

Donkeys, also called burros and asses, are found throughout the world. They are members of the Equidae family, which also includes horses and zebras. They look a lot like their equine cousins, but have long, floppy ears and tend to be stockier than horses or zebras. How big are donkeys?There...

Jan 31, 2022

Facts about hippos

Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius) are large, round, water-loving animals that are native to Africa. The word hippopotamus comes from the Greek word for water horse or river horse, although hippos and horses aren't closely related. The closest living relatives to hippos are pigs, whales and dolphins, according to the San Diego...

Jan 31, 2023

Do mice really like cheese?

From Tom and Jerry to The Farmer in the Dell, pop culture is full of mice that love cheese. In fact, there's even a mouse mascot with the food in his name: Chuck E. Cheese. But do real mice actually crave a nutty, odorous Gruyere? Not exactly. To start, not...

Dec 31, 2022

Alaskan sea otters were brought back from the brink of extinction. Now wolves are hunting them.

After eradicating their deer prey, wolves on a remote Alaskan island have turned to voraciously hunting and consuming sea otters as their main food source, a new study has revealed. The discovery, made on the 20 square mile (52 square kilometers) Pleasant Island located roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) west...

Mar 5, 2024

Prairie vole orgasms 'rewire' their brains for long-term love

Scientists have discovered that orgasms rewire the brains of fuzzy little rodents called prairie voles, helping them to bond and form long-term monogamous relationships. The research provides an insight into how sex, intimacy and the formation of enduring attachments can trigger a cascade of activity in parts of the brain...

Mar 9, 2024

Patagonian mara: The monogamous rodents that mate only a few times a year but pee on each other constantly

Name: Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum) Where it lives: Arid grasslands and brush lands in central and southern Argentina What it eats: Grasses, cacti, seeds, fruits, flowers and its own dung Why it's awesome: Patagonian maras mate for life, and males are fiercely protective of their partners, following them wherever they...

May 16, 2023

Chlamydia is killing Australia's koalas, but ambitious new project could stop the spread

Conservationists in Australia have begun vaccinating wild koalas against a highly contagious and deadly form of chlamydia. In recent decades, the marsupials have been plagued with a destructive strain of chlamydia, which belongs to a closely related species of the sexually-transmitted disease in humans. In koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), chlamydia causes...

May 19, 2023

World's only known albino giant anteater appears to be thriving in the wild, photos show

Conservationists have released new photos of the only known living albino giant anteater on Earth, who is now believed to be at least 1 year old. Researchers from the Anteaters and Highways Project (AHP), a multi-year assessment of anteater-vehicle collisions set up by Brazil's Wild Animal Conservation Institute (ICAS), first...

May 19, 2023

Birth of wild red wolf pups brings hope to species on brink of extinction

An extremely rare litter of critically endangered red wolf pups has been born in the wild for the second time in five years. The wolf parents have also adopted a captive-bred pup into the new brood for the first time, further raising hopes that the species can be saved from...

May 22, 2023

Rarest of rare: 2 albino egg-laying mammals spotted in Australia

Residents of New South Wales, Australia, have spotted two extremely rare albino echidnas in the space of just two weeks. Geoff Hadley found one of the all-white, quill-covered creatures on a road in the Bathurst region, according to ABC News. He helped the echidna cross safely before reporting the sighting...

May 24, 2023

'Mini kangaroos on steroids' make comeback in South Australia after disappearing for 100 years

Adorable marsupials that look like mini kangaroos on steroids are bouncing back in southern Australia after disappearing from the region for more than 100 years. Brush-tailed bettongs (Bettongia penicillata), also known as yalgiri in the language of the local Narungga People, are energetic creatures that once hopped and darted across...

May 24, 2023

Some mice tails are secretly reinforced with bony scales, just like dinosaurs

Researchers have serendipitously discovered that all species in a mouse genus have tails secretly reinforced with bony scales. Before now, only one mammal group — armadillos — were known to possess these scales. Spiny mice in the genus Acomys, which contains 21 species, appear similar to common mice from the...

May 24, 2023

Extremely rare case of mad cow disease detected in the US

A rare case of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been detected at a slaughter plant in South Carolina but poses no threat to humans or other cattle. It is only the seventh confirmed case of the extremely deadly disease ever recorded in the U.S....