New Scientist

Fossils in rocks that are 3.8 billion years old have puzzled biologists as they look nothing like modern cells, but now it seems they may be an ancient precursor life form that was unable to control its structure

Elephant-like species started going extinct faster when early humans evolved, and the rate of extinction rose even higher when modern humans appeared

Ants and other insects are capable of astounding navigational feats. Perhaps an appreciation of this could aid conservation efforts, says Robert Barrie

The 166-million-year-old fossils of an adult and a juvenile of the same extinct mammal species reveal that they had longer "childhoods" and lifespans than similar species today

An orange layer on the tips of Komodo dragons’ teeth may give the enamel extra strength for ripping apart their prey

Researchers are calling for greater protection for basking sharks after a camera on a tagged shark recorded a collision for the first time

Humans and chimpanzees both take part in rapid social exchanges, suggesting some foundational principles of language may have evolved earlier than previously thought

Genetic analysis shows that there are four varieties of Portuguese man o’ war, or bluebottle, including an Antipodean species that has yet to be named

Science is at last confirming what many people have long suspected - that mammals, birds and perhaps some invertebrates have elements of consciousness

When ants try to invade their nest, Japanese honeybees flutter their wings and tilt their bodies to beat away their enemies

Hunting in packs seems like a complex social behaviour, but it isn't limited to large carnivores like wolves. A simple sea slug species teams up to swarm its venomous anemone prey as a group

All life on Earth can trace its origin to LUCA, the last universal common ancestor – and now it seems this organism may have lived a few hundred million years after the planet formed

A complete genome has been extracted from a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth, which might bring us closer to resurrecting the species

Two lions, one missing a leg, made a 1.5-kilometre swim through crocodile-infested waters in Uganda, probably in order to mate with females

Social media assures us that we can grow a rose cutting in a raw potato. But you're better off sticking with tried and tested methods of rose propagation, says James Wong

The magnificent tree frog (Litoria splendida) is normally a vibrant green, but conservationists in Australia have spotted a blue-skinned individual

Dingoes, the native wild dogs of Australia, arrived on the continent more than 3000 years ago and their gene pool has had little input from domestic dogs

A snorkelling tourist in East Timor has filmed a pygmy blue whale calf drinking its mother’s milk for the first time

A grass-green snake from Vietnam with yellow eyes, blue lips and a brick-red tail has been identified as a distinct species

A fossil found in the Namib desert has been described as a 2.5-metre long predator that resembled a giant salamander