National Geographic
Whistling Orangutan May Hint at Language Evolution
Rebecca Carroll in Washington, D.C.
for National Geographic News
Bonnie’s whistling isn’t so surprising to her caregivers. The 140-pound (63.5-kilometer) orangutan at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has been whistling for about two decades. Now a new study suggests that the sounds she makes could hold clues about the origins of human [...]
Illegal Leopard Killings Rise in India, Groups Say
Paroma Basu in New Delhi, India
for National Geographic News
A recent flurry of leopard-skin seizures by Indian wildlife authorities suggests that as tigers decline, poachers are increasingly on the prowl for the country’s other big cat. At least 141 leopards have fallen to poaching so far in 2008, compared to 24 tigers killed in the same [...]
Ndoki Rain Forest
New photographs from researchers in Nouabale-Ndoki National park in Congo reveal that gorillas use tools, the first documented among wild gorillas.
Sphere: Related Content
30Nov2008 | Sara | 0 comments | ContinuedOldest Turtle Found; May Crack Shell-Evolution Mystery
Brian Handwerk for
National Geographic News
Fossils of the oldest-known turtles, unearthed in southwestern China, may help answer an evolutionary enigma—how did the turtle get its shell? The 220-million-year-old animals did not have full shells, or carapaces, on their backs, researchers found.
But the newfound creatures did sport fully developed plastrons—the flat part of a [...]
PHOTOS: Alien-like Squid Seen at Deep Drilling Site
Kelly Hearn
for National Geographic News
A mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater, a remote control submersible’s camera has captured an eerie surprise: an alien-like, long-armed, and—strangest of all—”elbowed” Magnapinna squid.
In a brief video from the dive recently obtained by National Geographic News, one of the rarely seen squid loiters above the [...]
Hurricanes Blow Away Bats, Spread Genes to New Islands
Matt Kaplan
for National Geographic News
Strong hurricanes have been known to wipe out bird and bat populations, but a new study has discovered a silver lining in those storm clouds. Hurricanes may actually blow helpless bats in the Caribbean from one island to another, eventually reconnecting geographically isolated species and boosting genetic diversity, [...]
Python-Packed Cars Seized in Cambodia
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
Two wildlife smugglers transporting hundreds of live turtles and pythons jammed into the backs of cars have been arrested by Cambodian officials. The drivers were apparently heading to neighboring Vietnam to sell the animals—many of them rare—to the region’s illegal wildlife markets.
The November 9 seizure by a special [...]
Oceans Ten Times More Acidic Than Thought
Helen Scales
for National Geographic News
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may make Earth’s oceans more acidic faster than previously thought—unbalancing ecosystems in the process, a new study says. Since 2000, scientists have measured the acidity of seawater around Tatoosh Island off the coast of Washington state. The acidity increased ten [...]
Ton of Illegal Ivory, Hippo Teeth Seized in Kenya
Zoe Alsop in Nairobi
for National Geographic News
Africa’s largest-ever investigation of wildlife crime has unearthed a ton of illegal African elephant ivory, several animal pelts, and hippopotamus teeth, the Kenya Wildlife Service and INTERPOL announced this week. The undercover operation, coordinated by INTERPOL—the world’s largest international police organization—booked more than 60 alleged criminals in [...]