Ultra-fast harpoon! (Stenos beetle)

Video: This beetle hunts with a sticky harpoon!

December 13, 2023

  Dr. Adrian Smith, head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, says of his latest video: I finally found and filmed a Stenus beetle! These rove beetles are famous for hunting springtails by using a projectile mouthpart (a modified labium) with sticky pads at the end. I collected the individual in this… Read More >


Camera trap photo of an eastern cottontail on the edge of the woods.

In Hotter Regions, Mammals Seek Forests, Avoid Human Habitats

December 4, 2023

The cool of the forest is a welcome escape on a hot day. This is especially true for mammals in North America’s hottest regions, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study indicates that, as the climate warms, preserving forest cover will be increasingly important for wildlife conservation. The study, published… Read More >


A coyote passes a trail camera near the Savannah River in South Carolina.

Coyote scavenging affects small carnivore behavior

November 29, 2023

Bobcats may act leery when coyotes have recently visited a gut pile For a study published recently in Ecosphere, Alex Jensen, a postdoctoral researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and his colleagues placed 75 trail cameras across a variety of forest habitats in early 2020, and again in early 2021…. Read More >


Illustration of Mambachiton fiandohana as it may have looked in life, showing the characteristic paired scutes along its back.

Armored archosaur discovery reveals complexity of dinosaur origins

November 20, 2023

Original news story published August 3, 2023. Updated November 20, 2023. Illustration of Mambachiton fiandohana as it may have looked in life, showing the characteristic paired scutes along its back. Art by Matt Celeskey. A team of American and Malagasy researchers, including NCMNS Research Curator of Paleontology Dr. Christian Kammerer, have discovered a new species… Read More >


Red Wolf trotting away from the camera trap into a field.

Red wolves shown to have ecological value, even as species fell towards extinction

RALEIGH, NC – A new study published in Animal Conservation has revealed that the recent dramatic decline of endangered red wolves in North Carolina coincided with significant increases in multiple prey and competitor species on lands within the red wolf recovery area. The findings support the idea that this rare wolf species had been exerting… Read More >