May 2, 2016 17-million-year-old whale skull helps place humanity's first steps A 17-million-year-old beaked whale fossil is helping researchers solve a puzzle about the likely birthplace of humanity in East Africa, a new study finds
May 2, 2016 Santa Barbara Zoo welcomes new baby giraffe Asha The Santa Barbara Zoo welcomed a new addition to its giraffe herd over the weekend with the birth of Asha, a 6-foot-4-inches tall, 182-pound calf. The tall baby was born March 14 at 4:55 a.m. ET, and met fellow calf, Buttercup, a male that was born in November, the following day.
May 2, 2016 'America's great migration:' Thousands of cranes meet along Nebraska river Right now, visitors from around the world are flocking to the banks of the Platte River near Kearney, Neb. to see what Bill Taddicken, director of the Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary, calls “one of the last great migrations remaining” on Earth. From March through early April, about 600,000 sandhill cranes — nearly 90 percent of the world’s total sandhill population – will make a stop at the Nebraskan river, something of a pit stop on the “Central Flyway,” their path to breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and as far away as Siberia.
May 2, 2016 Baby great white sharks surprise Southern California beachgoers Cue the John Williams score – there’ve been great white shark sightings very close off the shores of the beach at Ventura, Calif. But, experts say, this is nothing worry about – these are “Jaws” of the baby variety. About eight to 10 juvenile sharks have been spotted sticking close to the warmest, shallowest areas near the coastline.
May 2, 2016 Arachnid love: Female wolf spiders use dragline silk to snag a mate Sometimes a lady spider has to show off the goods. New research shows that female wolf spiders increase their dragline silk advertisements to get otherwise uninterested males’ attention.
May 2, 2016 Photo first: Rare tiger family portrait For the first time, conservationists have spotted an Amur tiger dad leading his family along a snowy trail in Russia's Far East forests
May 2, 2016 Secret hideout helped penguins survive the Ice Age Earth's last ice age was so cold that even Antarctica's emperor penguins had trouble with the chill, a new study finds
May 2, 2016 Bald eagle protects eggs, braves snowstorm One bald eagle might be in the running for "parent of the year." Despite the cold temperatures, one bald eagle has been captured by a live camera feed from the Pennsylvania Game Commission buried up to its head in snow as it sits over its eggs. In some images from the feed, the patriotic bird's beak can be seen poking out from the pile of snow.
May 2, 2016 Penguins rapidly conquered New Zealand after humans ate rivals Bones left behind by a penguin that was eaten to extinction reveal that a remarkably fast turnover in species occurred after Polynesian seafarers wiped out New Zealand's weird wildlife, a new study reports
May 2, 2016 Photographer captures weasel hitching ride on woodpecker's back While it might not have caused the same kind of a commotion as a certain dress, one image showing an unlikely animal pair certainly went viral Tuesday. A photograph taken by an amateur Essex, U.K.-based photographer that shows a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker in flight made the Internet rounds, inspiring countless tweets and memes.
