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Ecosystems

A collection of perhaps 20 whales swimming in front of icy mountains, dorsal fins extending out of the water.

Creature

Antarctic Killer Whales May Travel Great Lengths for Healthy Skin

Researchers suggest that a previously unidentified factor may drive whales to migrate.

Jesse Kathan, Contributor

Earth

How Viruses Secretly Control the Planet

Bacteria help drive Earth's chemical cycles and climate. Viruses drive the bacteria.

Nala Rogers, Staff Writer

Creature

How Hunters Might Help Protect the World's Rarest Turtle

A new study in Vietnam offers hope for a massive freshwater species.

Amanda Heidt, Contributor

The image shows a dense forest, interspersed with a river and islands.

Creature

Shocking Find! Two New Electric Eel Species Discovered

Expeditions in remote Amazon waterways result in identification of two previously unknown electrified fish.

Joshua Learn, Contributor

Sandy beach with cabanas, sunbathers, and piles of sargassum, as a man moves a wheelbarrow full of the seaweed.

Earth

The Complex Case of the Seaweed That Is Drowning Ecosystems in the Caribbean

Researchers are learning how to cope with the arrival of the sargassum’s “brown tide."

Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Contributor

A Komodo dragon still, with a deer in the background.

Creature

How the Last Dragons Survived Extinction

Komodo dragons outlived their giant reptile peers through isolation and some lucky breaks, although cannibalism and virgin births may have helped.

Joshua Learn, Contributor

Creature

Tree Stump Stays Alive with a Little Help from Neighboring Trees

Researchers discover evidence of a kauri tree "superorganism" in New Zealand.

Charles Q. Choi, Contributor

Creature

A Trip to North America's Galapagos

Searching for dwarf foxes and cloud forests on California's Santa Rosa Island -- a national park that the park service says is "like nowhere else on Earth."

Jason Socrates Bardi, Editor

Creature

When Penguins Dive, Other Birds Feast

After diving penguins drive fish to shallow waters, flying seabirds follow -- and share the bounty.

Charles Q. Choi, Contributor

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