Animals

Humans have been fascinated by the anglerfish for a long time (check out this engraving from 1893). But how did this deep sea predator first evolve? New research sheds light on the bathypelagic fish's evolutionary history. Getty Images hide caption

Clownfish swim at the Ocearium in Le Croisic, western France, on December 6, 2016. Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Valerie the mini dachshund, at home in mid-May. Georgia Gardner hide caption

This illustration depicts the early jawless vertebrate Astraspis being attacked by the sea-scorpion Megalograptus in dark, shallow waters. Both animals likely had tooth-like scales on their bodies that would have allowed them to sense things in the waters around them. Brian Engh/www.livingrelicproductions.com hide caption

Hummingbirds gather around a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water, in a backyard in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, July 17, 2014. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Teri Orr, a physiological ecologist at New Mexico State University, inspects the base of a guanacaste tree in Belize where she intends to trap bats later in the night. Scientists say they've developed an alternate method of tracking biodiversity that relies on the DNA that animals release into the environment, known as eDNA. Luis Echeverría for NPR hide caption

The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) is a lethal venomous snake native to Africa. Its bite is one of multiple that could be treated with a new universal antivenom... developed from a human named Tim Friede. Michele D'Amico/Getty Images hide caption

In this still from a wildlife camera, a one-to-two-day-old howler monkey infant clings to the body of a young capuchin monkey. Scientists say the capuchins are likely kidnapping the howler babies for their own amusement. Brendan Barrett/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior hide caption

Approximately 80% of orange cats are male. But why? Rebecca Ramirez/NPR hide caption

A fringe-lipped bat preys on a túngara frog in Panama. Photo by Marcos Guerra hide caption

A team of researchers recorded thousands of vocalizations made by wild chimpanzees in the Taï National Park in Ivory Coast.
Liran Samuni/Taï Chimpanzee Project hide caption

Professional photographer Emily Scher told NPR she came across tens of thousands of glittering Velella velella on a stretch of sand between Zuma and Broad beaches in Malibu, Calif. Emily Scher/emilyscherphotography.com hide caption

An unidentified cnidarian that resembles a Venus flytrap from the family Hormathiidae, sits at 1874 meters water depth. A new study finds that the vast majority of the deep sea floor remains undocumented. NOAA/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute hide caption

Why would adult human men want to threaten me with physical violence? Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Some sea slugs can steal the abilities of other animals after eating them. Biologist Drew Harvell thinks this "super power" could be harnessed by researchers one day to make transplantation surgeries in humans more effective. TARIK TINAZAY/Getty Images hide caption

Alex, a female bodega kitten playing with a Lotto ticket at Grand Organic in Brooklyn, New York on March 31, 2025. Lanna Apisukh for NPR/Lanna Apisukh hide caption