Animal Planet's "Sharks: Close Up" is a weeklong series of one-hour specials that goes beyond the frightening fa ade to deconstruct what makes sharks tick. From Mon., Oct. 22 to Fri., Oct. 26 airing every night at 8 p.m. ET/ 9 p.m. PT, these thrilling specials deal with everything from shark attacks to studying the legendary great white.
[10/09/2007] -- Fair-play isn't a chimp's strongest point, at least according to one study. Researchers found that chimps don't share their treats fairly, nor do they reject unfair offers put forth by others. Evolutionary anthropologist Keith Jensen and colleagues found that unlike humans, chimps accept any offer greater than zero, even if the colleague charged with divvying up the loot keeps more for himself.
[10/02/2007] -- Every year in late summer, more than a million wildebeest begin their long and dangerous journey north, from the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania to Kenya, and back. Herds leave their calving grounds in search of grass and water, crossing the flat and treeless Maasai Mara Savannah and the temperamental Mara River.
Her daughters are sleeping around. Her neighbours are trying to evict her and she's pregnant again. No, she isn't the latest victim of tabloid fodder - she is Flower, the Whiskers' matriarch and boss on "Meerkat Manor." Watch the highly-anticipated third season of "Meerkat Manor" on Wednesdays at 8pm ET.
There were plenty of worthy entries, but only three were chosen for the Grand, Secondary and Third Prize winners of Animal Planet's Panasonic Wildlife Photo Contest. Thanks to everyone who participated. Take a look at this year's winning photographs.
[09/21/2007] -- Why are some groups of animals so much more diverse than others? A new study out of Cornell University may provide the answer - at least when it comes to one very adaptive group of lizards. In the case of the skink, a finger-sized Aussie lizard, the "drying up" of Australia over the past 20 million years triggered the explosive diversification.
[09/11/2007] -- The wily coyote is not so wily where the big bad wolf is concerned, new research out of the Wildlife Conservation Society suggests. While the animal is top dog in much of United States, the latest research indicates that its populations are more than 30 per cent lower in wolf territory.
[09/18/2007] -- How do you handle an arch nemesis? Well, if you were a Cyprian honeybee, you'd round up a few of your bee buddies to take care of the problem - that irksome and predatory Oriental hornet. Protective bees engulf the insect and effectively suffocate it, new research suggests. "We detail an amazing defense strategy, namely asphyxia-balling, by which Cyprian honeybees mob the hornet and smother it to death," said Gerard Arnold, one of the authors of the study.
[08/20/2007] -- Researchers at the University of California, Davis are declaring that the best defense against rattlesnakes is a heated, bushy tail. According to a recent report, California ground squirrels have developed this ability in order to look bigger and more threatening to their slithery predators.
[08/03/2007] The old monkeys-see, monkey-do does not make for very effective learning, according to one study. "Like humans, monkeys benefit enormously from being actively involved in learning instead of having information presented to them passively," said Nate Kornell, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar and lead author of the study.
[07/30/2007] -- A threatened African bird species, the Kori Bustard, is making a comeback as four chicks at the Smithsonian National Zoo have hatched over the last month. The news comes from an electronic egg that transmits real-time incubation data from the nest. This new technology offers biologists a wealth of information about typical breeding activities and may be the key to preserving animals like the Kori.
[07/30/2007] -- After seven years of solitude, a Greater Horseshoe bat nicknamed Dean has finally found his soul mate, Cinders, giving researchers in the UK newfound hope for the future of these endangered species. The two flying mammals have settled in a hibernation cave in northern Wales, after traveling the same 110-mile distance from their original roost in Gloucestershire.