Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don't? It's one of the most enduring questions in the study of mind and communication. Across all cultures, humans use richly expressive ...

The human ability to cook may seem ordinary, but it marks one of the most important evolutionary turning points in our ...

The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers, and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same ...

Discover the science behind why we love our pets so much, from brain chemistry to emotional bonds that shape the deep ...

Why is it that a squirrel may calmly take food from a picnic table while a deer runs as if its life depends on it at the snap of a twig? For years, ecologists have asked whether animals always treat ...

New research by Smithsonian scientists suggests that preferences for certain sounds might be evolutionarily conserved ...

Humans can distinguish at least one trillion odors, but we don’t necessarily make full use of that capability. For wild animals, where smell is associated with survival, scents may provide life or ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A male hourglass tree frog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus) with an inflated vocal sac used to produce calls. (Ryan Taylor) Your taste ...

Crying is one of the most recognizable human emotional signals. Tears appear when people experience grief, relief, joy, or deep stress. Because this response is so familiar, observers often assume ...