Animals
We live on a planet with millions of species of animals -and a rich, diverse collection of known wildlife, and yet new species are being identified seemingly every day — both living and extinct.
Whether it’s the deadliest snakes, longest-living creatures or the history of the dinosaurs, at Live Science, our expert writers are here to help you understand Earth's incredible fauna — past and present — with the latest animal news, features and articles.
Explore Animals
Latest about Animals
How do cats squeeze through small spaces?
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Cats can squeeze through impossibly small holes, but how does their anatomy enable them to do this?
80 million-year-old sea monster jaw filled with giant globular teeth for crushing prey discovered in Texas
By Richard Pallardy published
Rare fossils of the mosasaur Globidens alabamaensis — a 20 foot predator with strange, mushroom-shaped teeth — unearthed in northeastern Texas.
Wolf spiders: Behavior, bites and other facts
By Jessie Szalay last updated
REFERENCE Wolf spiders are a large family of hairy and athletic arachnids that chase down prey on the ground rather than catching food in webs.
Watch mesmerizing video of weird waves that 'shape life itself' inside a fly embryo
By Hannah Osborne published
Video of cell division occurring in a developing fly embryo named winner of the 14th annual Nikon Small World in Motion competition.
'Absolutely magical': Rare glowing duo of tree frog and parasitic ghost fungus captured in otherworldly photo
By Elise Poore published
An image of a biofluorescent frog perched on a bioluminescent mushroom is the People's Choice winner for the Beaker Street Science Photography Competition 2024.
Angular roughshark: The pig-faced shark that grunts when captured
By Lydia Smith published
An angular roughshark pulled from the water near Elba, an Italian island near Tuscany.
Parasitic 'horror' wasp that bursts from a fly's abdomen like an 'Alien' xenomorph discovered in Mississippi backyard
By Patrick Pester published
Scientists accidentally discover new species of wasp that lays eggs inside living, adult fruit flies, which then burst from the hosts' abdomens while they're still alive.
What are tardigrades, and why are they nearly indestructible?
By Mindy Weisberger last updated
Reference Tardigrades, often called water bears or moss piglets, are near-microscopic animals that are extremely resilient.
1st tardigrade fossils ever discovered hint at how they survived Earth's biggest mass extinction
By Elise Poore published
Detailed 3D images of the first tardigrade fossils ever discovered help scientists predict when tardigrades evolved their near-indestructibility — a trait that might have helped them survive multiple mass extinctions.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.