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From the beginning, JSTOR Daily has followed the philosophy that there can never be too many stories about our weird, wonderful, surprising, and above all cute animal siblings. We’ve considered tardigrades, puffins, and apatosaurs (or are they brontosaurs?) and have no plans to stop. We can’t quit wildlife cams, and neither can you.

JSTOR Teaching ResourcesJSTOR Teaching Resources

Animals bring us joy, teach us lessons, puzzle us, and ultimately raise questions about life on Earth that are more interesting than the short lives any of us live as individuals. Right now, though, we can’t quite say we do right by animals, as populations of species shrink due to human-made calamities, from poaching to climate change. We owe them more.

Our affection for animals might help us think through what we as a planet are going through at this turbulent time. Maybe we can channel all that squee and wow into some kind of deeper belief in life itself.

Behavior

An octopus

Stuck in the Midden with You

Liz Tracey
January 5, 2020
A midden is, among other things, a refuse site outside an octopus' home. (Release the Køkkenmødding!)
A well-groomed thoughtful cat

The Curious Science of Animal Personalities

Juliet Lamb
September 22, 2016
Any pet owner can tell you that different pets have different personalities, but actually measuring personality in non-human animals is a challenge.
A shark being cleaned by smaller fish

Where the Small Fish Clean the Bigger Ones

James MacDonald
October 12, 2019
A "cleaner station" is a sort of undersea business, a place where large, often predatory, fish go to have parasites removed.
A bear looks out of its cave over the snow covered terrain

The Mysteries of Hibernation

James MacDonald
January 20, 2015
Bears in hibernation have a lot of physiological issues to solve.

 

Evolution

An orange and cream lizard tilts its head and tail up

Animal Penises Can Tell Us a Lot About Evolution

James MacDonald
January 30, 2015
There is a surprisingly large body of work regarding animal penis evolution.
A giant squid

Why Deep-Sea Creatures Get Weirdly Giant

James MacDonald
July 17, 2019
A giant squid sighting has us wondering all over again: how on earth do deep-sea creatures get so large?
A panda chewing on a stalk of bamboo

Why Do Pandas Have Thumbs?

Juliet Lamb
November 24, 2016
Some panda species have strange thumb-like appendages, but their thumbs evolved for strikingly different reasons.
A lizard with dewlap extended sitting on a rock

When Faced with Competition, Florida Lizards Simply Evolve Faster

James MacDonald
November 28, 2014
When faced with an invasive competitor, Florida anole lizards took only 15 years to evolve a response.

 

Just Plain Awesome and/or Cute

Koko the Gorilla and mother Jackie

The Legacy of Koko the Gorilla

James MacDonald
July 24, 2018
The jury is still out on whether or not Koko's signing skills proved that apes can learn language. But we certainly learned a lot from the famous gorilla.
A pair of humpback whales

The Cultural Differences in Humpback Whale Songs

James MacDonald
October 3, 2019
One group of researchers found distinct differences among songs from groups of humpback whales that are geographically isolated from each other.
A hedgehog in a porcelain cup

Biomimicry Comes for the Noble Hedgehog

Liz Tracey
March 10, 2020
Inventors often use animals' adaptations to the environment in applications that benefit humans, from sharky swimsuits to hedgehog-inspired helmets.
An eagle feeds its offspring

Bald Eagles Are Back From the Brink

Matthew Wills
February 23, 2015
Bald eagles are back from the brink of extinction.
A seal pops its head up out of the water

Seals 1, Scientists 0

James MacDonald
April 6, 2015
A long-term study to track the movements of commercially valuable fish species might have been a waste of time, thanks to crafty seals.

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