Commercial bowhead whaling ended in the early 20th century, but the industry’s lasting effects on the whales’ genetic diversity are leading to declines again

When alpacas mate, males deposit sperm directly into the uterus, a reproductive strategy not confirmed in any other mammals

The neurons in wasp brains that help them recognise hive mates are similar to those in the brains of primates, including humans

Intensive breeding since the 19th century has created thousands of varieties of rose, but a reduction in genetic diversity could leave them vulnerable to diseases and climate change

Targeted culling of crown-of-thorns starfish has resulted in parts of the Great Barrier Reef maintaining and even increasing coral cover, leading researchers to call for the programme to be dramatically scaled up

Using genomic data from more than 9500 species, biologists have mapped the evolutionary relationships between flowering plants

A set of large, distinctive footprints suggest a raptor dinosaur that lived in East Asia 96 million years ago grew to a length of 5 metres

Six full-body fossils of Ptychodus sharks have been formally analysed for the first time, revealing that they were fast swimmers that preyed on shelled creatures

A group of around 40 scientists signed a declaration calling for formal acknowledgement of consciousness in a range of animals, including insects and fish – but the evidence is still lacking

An Australian bull ant is the first animal known to use the patterns produced by polarised moonlight to navigate its environment