A number of ant species produce acid in a poison gland in their abdomen to spray at enemies, and now it seems they also drink it to kill pathogens in their food

The earliest cave-dwelling animal identified from the dinosaur era is a ghostly white cockroach with tiny eyes and wings that was preserved in amber

As the world gets warmer, animals whose sex is determined by temperature are finding cool ways to control their own fate. But can they adapt in time?

Watching brain activity in fish as they try to “swim” in virtual reality helps us understand their perception abilities and how they interact with other animals

Silver has an antibacterial effect by stopping the motors that bacteria use to move around from working properly and making them move more slowly

A mixture of two carbon-based chemicals can spontaneously form molecules that can copy themselves, hinting at how life may have begun on Earth

Brazil’s yellow cururu toads eat scorpions, and they can survive five times the dose of scorpion venom that would kill a mouse – the same as 10 stings

Genetic analysis suggests all Arabica coffee plants are descended from a single common ancestor, and this lack of genetic diversity makes them vulnerable to extinction

The plot of sci-fi movie Little Joe may sound like it plays to powerful 1990s anti-GM fears but bigger issues like human freedom may really be at stake

A 2000-year-old skeleton found in Spain belonged to a lapdog that may have been born thousands of kilometres to the east and traded during Roman times

Penguins are the first seabirds we have recorded making sounds under water – they may be calling out for help when they hunt or making noise to disorient their prey

When a large asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago, it sent huge curtains of dust flying tens of kilometres up into the air that quickly covered the planet

Climate change is leading to lower numbers of marine life towards the equator – including mammals, birds, fish and plankton – while populations nearer the poles increase

A new dinosaur species related to velociraptors has been found in New Mexico, and its claws were larger and stronger than average

The fossilised remains of the food found in one of the few remaining coastal Neanderthal sites in Europe show they ate plenty of seafood, fish and nuts

Finding out how flight evolved or animals moved onto land is all about a collision of palaeontology and genetics, argue two new books

Many great ape species are already in a precarious situation because of their dwindling numbers. Now they may also be at risk from the coronavirus pandemic

The age of a whale shark can be determined by dating the rings of growth in their cartilage, a method that has confirmed that these animals can live for at least 50 years

Soil’s earthy smell comes from chemicals produced by bacteria called Streptomyces, which use the odour to attract springtails to help disperse their spores

Most molecules exist in mirror-image forms, and yet life prefers one over the other. How this bias began and why it persisted is one of the most baffling questions in biology – but now we have an answer

Male ring-tailed lemurs rub their wrists to release a sweet, fruity smell that may be the first evidence of sex pheromones identified in primates

An aerial view of crabeater seals in Antarctica, mating damselflies and a twilight rocket launch were among the most lauded entries to the inaugural Nature TTL Photographer of the Year award

Jane Goodall has tirelessly fought for a better world for humans and wildlife, and with covid-19 we must stay positive, she says 

Dingoes have been persecuted in Australia for centuries for killing livestock, but protecting them could benefit the environment and aid recovery from the devastating fires

Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and bats have evolved to be good at metabolising alcohol, according to a study that suggests many mammals can get drunk

Vampire bats are social creatures that build relationships through grooming and food-sharing, but when they feel ill, they self-isolate and call out for contact far less

For years, the oldest turtle fossils we could find had fully formed shells. Now, more primitive fossils are revealing the strange tale of how turtle shells evolved

For orangutans, scratching is contagious – but unexpectedly, the behaviour is transmitted more between individuals that do not know each other well

In what now seems like a galaxy far, far away, Republican lawmakers routinely talked up the idea of raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. In fact, we were in that galaxy just three...

Some U.S. fund managers are attempting what seems like an impossible task: making bets on the stocks and bonds of energy companies at a time when oil futures have sunk to historic lows and a swelling...

The care home's residents are all over 65 years old and have hardly left their apartments for weeks. To cheer them up, the administration decided to organize various concerts.

Two Humboldt penguins, Nacho and Goat, went on a field trip in the forest accompanied by their keepers at Oregon Zoo on Friday (May 1) in Portland, United States.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday said it was 'dangerous' for the Trump administration to pressure states and businesses to 'reopen without a plan for a dramatic increase in testing'.

U.S. President Donald Trump described his former national security adviser Michael Flynn as an 'innocent man' after learning that the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday abruptly sought to drop the criminal charges against Flynn.

The last "supermoon" of 2020 rose in the night sky on Thursday over a world beginning to re-emerge after weeks of coronavirus-related lockdowns.

Brazil's Bela Vista Biological Refuge Veterinarian Pedro Enrrique Ferreira says the Harpy Eagle hatchling born on April 26 only weighs 150 grams now but could one day grow to weigh some 20 pounds.

Singapore unveiled a four-legged canine-like robot on Friday (May 8) to remind park goers to maintain social distancing.

A king kobra is spotted near a train station in Singapore, animal rescuers were alerted to catch it.

There could be a planetary threshold beyond which the earth will keep warming even if we stop pumping out more fossil fuels - the so-called 'Hothouse Earth' scenario

Firefighters are battling high winds and extreme heat as they try to slow the spread of the biggest wildfire ever recorded in California

Self-educated ice sage James Croll cracked the conundrum of why Earth periodically freezes over. He was feted in his time, so why did the world forget him?

Across the world, new roads, railways, dams and power lines are encroaching on previously virgin territory – with untold consequences for Earth’s wildlife

Mountainsides are becoming less stable as glaciers retreat, leading to more landslides that can trigger massive - but localised - tsunamis

At Unseen Amsterdam, striking images of a melting glacier are stirring visitors to action

Extreme storms Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut have caused destruction and taken lives across the globe this week, forcing millions to evacuate their homes

If big rocks fall far enough they can explode with more energy than any non-nuclear bomb – and the ensuing shockwave can snap large trees half a kilometre away

Some rocks in Tasmania, Australia, look out of place. Now an analysis suggests they were once part of the rocks that form the Grand Canyon in the US

A rash of recent earthquakes in Lancashire, UK has prompted fracking operations to halt temporarily on six separate occasions

Armed with drones, helicopters and military-grade software, a British photographer has developed a new way to remember glaciers

On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8 became the first crewed spacecraft to circle the moon. Emerging from its dark side, one astronaut reached for his camera