Animals

Dolce & Gabbana has released its first fragrance for dogs, but what smells nice to humans might not be agreeable to the pet kingdom.

The internet of animals, it's a global initiative to tag, track and learn about animal movement around the world.

A new study suggests fish may swim together in turbulent water to conserve energy.

In the Pacific Northwest, some tributaries salmon travel through to spawn are so hot that it’s threatening their migration. In some places, biologists have trucked the fish to cooler water.

Generally, we at Short Wave are open-minded to the creepies and the crawlies, but even we must admit that leeches are already the stuff of nightmares. They lurk in water. They drink blood. There are over 800 different species of them. And now, as scientists have confirmed ... at least some of them can jump!

Interested in more critter science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to consider your animal of choice for a future episode!

Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives. But does much of their communication resembles ours? According to a new study published earlier this week in the journal Current Biology, chimpanzees gesture back-and-forth in a similar way to how humans take turns speaking. The research presents an intriguing possibility that this style of communication may have evolved before humans split off from great apes, and tells researchers more about how turn-taking evolved.

Interested in more science news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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