Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 31, 2006

Dogs Get Found, Cats Stay Lost

A lost Fido is more likely to be found than a missing Tabby. Why? Because man’s best friend is more likely to have identification tags and dog owners are more prompt in searching for their missing pets, according to a new study. The findings, published in the Jan. 15 issue...

Nov 30, 2008

Reindeer Could Remain on the Run

Caribou, aka reindeer in North America, could soon become endangered by threats such as oil exploration and climate change, according to a new book. The animals are revered by many cultures and are also central to the health and vitality of the Far North, the authors of Caribou and the...

Oct 31, 2008

Huge Cave Bears: When and Why They Disappeared

Enormous cave bears that once inhabited Europe were the first of the mega-mammals to die out, going extinct around 13 millennia earlier than was previously thought, according to a new estimate. Why'd they go? In part because they were vegetarians. The new extinction date, 27,800 years ago, coincides with a...

Sep 30, 2008

Wise Elephants Fear Roads

Endangered forest elephants are avoiding roads at all costs, having learned to associate roads with danger due to rampant poaching in Central Africa. Forest elephants are basically living in fear of their lives in prisons created by roads, lead researcher of a new study on the elephants Stephen Blake, now...

Aug 31, 2008

New Rules Advised for Hunting Gorillas, 'Bushmeat'

Bushmeat, or wild-animal game, has long been a food source for people who live in African forests and hunt apes, antelopes and other animals for subsistence. But in recent decades, commercial hunters have started to empty out the forests, especially of primates. So the bushmeat issue has become a vexing...

Aug 31, 2008

Extinct Giant Tortoise Could Be Revived

An extinct giant tortoise could make a comeback now that living turtles in the Galapagos Islands have been confirmed as hybrid descendents. Researchers had previously scratched their heads over the group of mixed-ancestry tortoises living on the island of Isabela in the Galapagos. But the connection to the extinct species...

Aug 31, 2008

City Bears Get Fat, Die Young

As bears spend more time near cities, the animals gain weight, get pregnant at a younger age and die young, violent deaths. A new study of black bears near the populated Lake Tahoe, Nev., area found an alarming percentage are hit by cars. Urban areas are becoming the ultimate bear...

Jul 31, 2008

Threatened Monkey Populations Surprisingly Large

A new census in Cambodia reveals remarkably large populations of two monkey species that are threatened with extinction. The monkey tally, announced today, represents the largest known populations of these species in the world. Scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society counted 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs and 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons...

Jul 31, 2008

Researcher Walks Among Dying Baby Chimps

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. As the sun rises, my commute to work begins. There is no traffic at all to speak of except for a few baboons frolicking about and a couple warthogs at their favorite grazing spot...

Jun 30, 2008

The Surprising History of America's Wild Horses

Modern horses, zebras, and asses belong to the genus Equus, the only surviving genus in a once diverse family, the Equidae. Based on fossil records, the genus appears to have originated in North America about 4 million years ago and spread to Eurasia (presumably by crossing the Bering land bridge)...

Jun 30, 2008

U.S. Auctions Wild Horses Online

The Bureau of Land Management is running an online adoption of wild horses through July 30 in the ongoing effort to curb the burgeoning population of these surprisingly widespread beasts. The creatures, which roam 10 Western states in 200 herds, have no natural predators and are protected by the federal...

May 31, 2008

Humans Likely Making Chimps Sick

Humans are likely the source of a virus that is making chimps sick in Africa, new research suggests. After studying chimpanzees in Tanzania for the past year, Virginia Tech researcher Taranjit Kaur and her team have obtained data from molecular, microscopic and epidemiological investigations that demonstrate how the chimpanzees living...

May 31, 2008

Why Female Chimps Shout or Shut Up During Sex

Female chimps often cry out during sex to attract nearby males, but they keep quiet when other females are around so they don't alert their competition, a new study finds. The function of copulation calls made by female primates (a group that includes lemurs, monkeys, and apes, such as humans...

Mar 31, 2008

How Humans Outlive Rats

Humans are built to last. Rats, not so much. A newly discovered body clock apparently ticks much faster in rats, snuffing out their lives tens of years earlier than humans. This biological rhythm, which tends to cut short the lives of smaller animals and let big creatures live longer, should...

Feb 29, 2008

Pint-Sized Primates Were First in North America

Leaping, furry mini-monkeys that were as small as mice crossed the Bering land bridge long before humans, representing North America's oldest known primates. This new claim is based on the fossils of at least three individuals of this previously unknown species of extinct primate uncovered at a site near Meridian,...