As night falls on the lowland rainforests in Madagascar, dead, decaying leaves find new life, slowly unfurling in the vanishing light. But as four scaly feet and wide, unblinking eyes emerge from behind the crinkly veil, the leaves reveal their true identities: these are leaf-tailed geckos, unparalleled masters of…

If you have flippers and spend time gliding through U.S. waters, there’s at least one reason to celebrate today. New research suggests that more than three quarters of marine mammal and sea turtle populations listed under the Endangered Species Act have significantly rebounded following listing. The study highlights…

Central Texas is home to three newly-identified species of salamander, suggests new research. But encountering these fresh amphibian faces isn’t as simple as taking a walk through the woodlands fringing Austin. These salamanders—and more than a dozen close relatives—live deep underground in a network of flooded…

It’s a new year, and the world has its first new species of shark in 2019. Meet Carcharhinus obsolerus! Though, it’d be wise to temper your expectations if you hope to see the newly-described species in the wild. The unique shark—described based on a few specimens caught many decades ago—may actually be extinct, gone…

Thanks to carbon dioxide emissions, Earth’s seas are getting both warmer and more acidic. Until now, the consequences of ocean acidification were thought to be mostly limited to marine animals that make hard, calcium carbonate shells, but new research suggests that fish will feel the impact too. Acidic conditions can…

Life is hard for Ridgway’s hawks, a species found only in a small sliver of habitat on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Once found all over the island, the hawks have steadily declined due to local humans killing them and clearing their forest habitat. If that weren’t enough, their chicks are threatened by…

What has two short, chunky arms, a mane of feathery gills, and a sleek, green-marbled, eel-like body as long as your leg? No guesses? Meet the reticulated siren, a massive, two and a half foot-long salamander, described for the first time in a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, hailing from the remote,…

Medicines do an excellent job of increasing the quality of life for humans around the world, but the drugs don’t stay with us forever, and are eventually flushed out into our wastewater. Now, new research suggests that not only are a staggering range of pharmaceutical products getting into the environment and…

Mountain pygmy-possums—big-eyed, stupefyingly cute hamster-sized marsupials—aren’t doing so hot. Critically-endangered, the nocturnal fuzzballs found only in boulder-strewn pockets of the high Australian Alps have suffered in the face of habitat loss and introduced predators. Now, new research suggests that climate…

Tigers seem pretty straightforward: stripes, sharp claws, awe-inspiring grace wielded by hundreds of pounds of rippling muscle, fondness of sugary cereal, etc. But new research on the big cats’ DNA is the latest indication that underneath that striking orange and black pelage, not all tigers are the same. Scientists…

It took a little while, but a tiny, delicate plant found in Japan 26 years ago has been formally classified as a new species. But after residing in a museum collection since the early 1990s, the single specimen of Thismia kobensis remains the only one ever found. Tragically, this means the so-called “fairy lantern”…

High in the Ecuadorian Andes, a stunningly beautiful species of hummingbird—decorated with a flashy, sapphire throat—has revealed itself to science for the first time. But scientists fear it’s already perilously close to extinction.

Baby iguanas, Chinese water dragons, or even ball pythons are undoubtedly cute and tempting to own as pets. But these popular reptiles don’t stay small forever. And according to new research, they are precisely the kind most likely to be released into the wild by humans.

Once pristine natural places become Instagram famous, everything changes. Lonely trails clog with hikers; empty forest pools fill with swimmers. Some have argued that the meshing of social media with the outdoors could cause locations to be loved to death, or even fundamentally taint outdoor recreation itself.

Humans and their constant barrage of noise cause all sorts of problems for wildlife. But new research suggests noise pollution may do more than impact individual animals—it can potentially modify whole ecosystems by messing with how predators interact with their prey.

To understand how our warming oceans impact tropical cyclones, scientists need more information about storm patterns during the past. Unfortunately, a reliable historical record of these storms doesn’t extend all that far back—not even two centuries. Now a team of researchers thinks giant clam shells could help fill…

Ecuador has five new species of snake, described by science for the first time. But these critters aren’t just any rainforest snakes: the new species have a diet that’s exceptionally weird, eating almost nothing but soft, gooey prey like snails and slugs. The researchers who found them also took the unusual step of…

Madagascar has an invasive toad problem, and new research suggests that fears about its ecological consequences are well-deserved. Almost every predator native to the island is likely sensitive to the toads’ dangerous toxins.

Things look pretty bleak for the northern white rhinoceros. Since the death of Sudan, the last male, the entirety of the subspecies has dwindled to only two females. But a group of scientists is churning away on a high-tech save involving carefully cryopreserved cells and tissue cultures from long-dead northern white…

France is known for many of its cultural items, including exceptional cuisine, wine, and the Louvre. Soon, it may also be known for its arm-length, shovel-headed, carnivorous worms.