Introduced trees are becoming more common in the eastern United States, while native diversity declines
In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History have used data from a…
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Over one-fifth of native North American pollinators at elevated risk of extinction
A pivotal new study led by NatureServe reveals that more than 22% of native pollinators in North America are at…
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Thorny skates come in snack and party sizes. After a century of guessing, scientists now know why
When Jeff Kneebone was a college student in 2002, his research involved a marine mystery that has stumped curious scientists…
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Unique dove species is the dodo of the Caribbean and in similar danger of dying out
On first inspection, the Cuban blue-headed quail dove doesn’t look like much: drab brown feathers, a slender beak, a pronounced…
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A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal
For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early…
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The yucca and the moth: How extreme weather impacts the timing of biological events
Whether it is flowers sprouting in the spring, cicadas mating in the blistering heat of summer, or caterpillars hatching to…
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Underwater fossil bed discovered by collectors preserves rare slice of Florida’s past
About half a million years ago, several horses, sloths and armadillos fell into a sinkhole in Florida’s Big Bend region…
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Unprovoked shark bites plummeted in 2024
2024 was an exceptionally calm year for shark bites. Worldwide, there were only 47 unprovoked attacks, down 22 from the…
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Decades-long study shows this endangered butterfly benefits from hurricanes
Sometimes, nature’s surprises come with wings. In a new study, scientists pulled from a 35-year dataset to examine long-term population…
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This mysterious plant fossil belongs to a family that no longer exists
In 1969, fossilized leaves of the species Othniophyton elongatum — which translates to “alien plant” — were identified in eastern…
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