1 December 2011 last updated at 01:53 Share this page by Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature Can pond-dwelling animals pick up pre-earthquake signals? Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 – days [...]

16 November 2011 last updated at 07:52 Share this page By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature Beluga whales come together for the annual moult A film crew has captured the remarkable scene of hundreds of beluga whales indulging in a mass "body scrub" to slough off their skin. The mammals come en masse into shallow Arctic estuaries where scrubbing their bodies on the stony seabed helps them moult their skin. "they definitely seem to [...]

2 November 2011 Last updated at 10:11 Share this page By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature Jays are members of the corvid family, which is known for its intelligence Experiments with Eurasian jays have shown that the birds store food that they will want in the future – "planning" for their impending needs. The study revealed that birds would stash more of the foods that they knew would be unavailable to them on forthcoming [...]

19 October 2011 Last updated at 22:58 Share this page by Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News Still Life in Oil: Canon EOS 5D mark II + 35mm f1.4 lens at 35mm; 1/30 sec at f4 (-0.7 e/v); ISO 800 It is a picture that seems at first to be quite beautiful. only as the eye lingers do you fully realise its shocking context. This image of brown pelicans smothered in oil from the Deepwater [...]

17 October 2011 last updated at 01:07 Share this page The "criminal" penguin takes stones from its neighbour's nest A "criminal" stone-stealing Adelie penguin has been captured on camera by a BBC film crew. The team, filming for the documentary Frozen Planet, spent four months with the penguin colony on Ross Island, Antarctica. The footage they captured shows a male penguin stealing stones from its neighbour's nest. The birds build their stone nests to elevate [...]

12 October 2011 last updated at 02:25 Share this page Meerkats are social animals that forage and even raise their young together Meerkats recognise another member of their social group by the sound of their voice, according to scientists. Researchers studying the animals in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, played recordings of meerkat calls and observed the animals' reactions. Their discovery, reported in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters is the first evidence of a [...]

27 September 2011 last updated at 03:46 Share this page by Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature up to seven million grass-cutting ants can live and farm fungus in one giant nest Grass-cutting ants build gigantic nests – underground cities where up to seven million insects live and tend a fungal garden that feeds their young. Scientists have now discovered how the ants build nests that stay at the right temperature for this precious fungus [...]

23 September 2011 Last updated at 11:42 Share this page By Alejandra Martins Reporter, BBC Latin America service Spigelia genuflexa bends over to release its seeds to the ground A new plant that "bends down" to deposit its seeds has been discovered in the Atlantic forest in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. The new species has been named Spigelia genuflexa after its unusual adaptation. After fruits are formed, the fruiting branches bend down, depositing [...]

22 September 2011 Last updated at 01:01 Share this page By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature The mysterious armoured mammal caught on camera A rare giant armadillo has been caught on camera by researchers in the wetlands of central Brazil. Little is known about the mysterious mammals, which can reach 1.5m in length and weigh up to 50kg. In the past, the species' nocturnal, solitary lifestyles have posed a considerable challenge for scientists wishing to [...]

21 September 2011 Last updated at 02:10 Share this page Building a baby T. rex skeleton is hard when you have only a few bones We all think that we know what dinosaurs look like, but no human has actually seen one. But recent palaeontological breakthroughs mean that scientists are now able to create the most accurate reproductions ever seen. A full Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton has never been found, so how do we know what [...]