Animal life is a recent addition to Earth, relatively speaking. The planet formed about 4.5 billion years ago, with microbial life likely emerging between 4.3 and 3.7 billion years ago. It was not ...

Here in the United States, the deadly risks posed by wildlife can pale in comparison to developing nations around the world ...

A team of scientists digging up some of the Earth’s oldest rocks has uncovered new chemical evidence that Earth’s first animals were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge. The discovery relies on ...

Our planet is brimming with life, and the diversity of animal species on Earth is staggering. Over 2.1 million animal species have been described, but zoologists estimate that millions more have yet ...

An artist’s impression depicts Kryoryctes at Dinosaur Cove in Australia. New research supports the hypothesis that Kryoryctes is a common ancestor of both the platypus and echidna. - Peter Schouten ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. When we think about the scope of our world’s diversity, ...

Microbes move across the planet, linking ecosystems and spreading genes that shape antibiotic resistance, health, and biodiversity.

Some animals communicate at volumes that far exceed what humans can tolerate. From powerful vocal calls to thunderous natural sounds, certain species rely on extreme loudness to defend territory, ...

Globally, human animals have trespassed into the homes of countless nonhuman animals (animals), and our planet—land, water, and air—has become severely fractured by these reckless intrusions. As a ...