Mammals
Fascinating facts about our warm blooded friends - the mammals.
It has a creepy stare, prowls the night, taps on trees to find food – and is feared as an omen of death. Is this the weirdest primate on the planet?
What is an aye-aye? Where do they live and what is the point of their strange middle finger? Learn all about them in our expert guide
It's stripy, the size of a house cat, enjoys a good gossip and often start fatal fights with rival gangs...
Our guide to the charismatic banded mongoose
Can any other great apes - other than humans that is - keep secrets?
Is keeping secrets a truly human trait? Stuart Blackman investigates
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Red squirrel vs grey squirrel: Think you know how they differ? Think again as the differences between these two squirrels will surprise you
We take a look at how the red squirrel differs to its American grey cousin
Brown rat or water vole: How to tell the difference between these two lookalike-rodents
When all you've seen is a flash of brown fur, it can be hard to know whether it was a water vole or rat. Though the two species tend to live in different habitats, there are areas where they overlap, potentially leading to cases of mistaken identity. So how do you tell rats and water voles apart?
The little-known story of war elephants: How ancient civilisations turned gentle giants into deadly weapons
It's not only horses that were used in ancient warfare. Steve Harris recounts the history of war elephants
The 10 deadliest dogs on Earth: Discover the world's most ferocious and savage wild canine hunters
Meet the world's deadliest canines who are some of the world's most effective hunters
Breathtaking gorilla photos reveal the strength and beauty of these enormous mammals
Stunning images of gorillas – from a yawning silverback to an adorable infant riding on its mother's back.
Watch nail-biting and emotional BBC footage of a pregnant hyena being attacked by a pack of wild dogs – will she survive?
In this first clip from upcoming BBC TV series Kingdom, David Attenborough narrates a tense encounter between a pregnant hyena and a pack of wild dogs
How is bile extracted from bears?
Behind closed doors, thousands of bears endure brutal conditions as their bile is harvested for profit and traditional remedies.
It climbs like a cat, roars like a lion and wears a white crescent on its chest: Meet the secretive creature you’ve probably never heard of
What are moon bears? Where do moon bears live?
Learn all about the beguiling moon bear in Heidi Quine's expert guide
This monkey has dagger-like teeth and the bite strength of a jaguar. Combined, it's one of the Amazon's most powerful tools
The red-nosed cuxiu uses a combination of force and surgical precision to crack open the forest’s toughest nuts, a new study finds.
“A mouse can’t be ‘stretched out’ to the size of an elephant.” How to make the largest animal that could ever live – according to an evolutionary biologist
Supersized animals should not be taken for granted – Earth’s great, hulking giants are biological phenomenons
“The huge shadow of an irate black rhino emerged. My only option was to pretend to be a tree.”
Jess Stevens was tracking rhinos in the Namibian bush when she heard the familiar snort of a nearby rhino...
Baboons filmed sharing meat like hunter-gather humans
The footage, captured in Senegal’s Niokolo Koba National Park as part of a study by the German Primate Center, shows Guinea baboons distributing meat in different ways.
10 deadliest apex predators in the wild: which ruthless mammals are the best – and most brutal – killing machines?
Which dangerous apex predators are the best hunters and which famous predator has to work hardest to get a meal? The answers will surprise you!
US officials parachuted 76 beavers into the Idaho wilderness – then something astounding happened
In post-World War II North America, beavers were wreaking havoc in rural communities. So the state department came up with an ingenious solution involving parachutes
Pandas have evolved an extra body part – and evolutionary experts think it happened when switching to a plant-based diet
When giant pandas switched from eating meat to a mainly plant-based diet, they evolved an extra body part to help them chow down
There's a rare and mystifying animal in the Pyrenees that looks like a tiny, furry elephant – known as a 'trumpet rat'
Webbed feet, a flexible snout and waterproof fur – the curious Pyrenean desman is surely one of Europe's oddest mammals.
11 staggering tiger photographs reveal the athletic power and brutal ferociousness of this deadly apex predator
This charismatic woodland creature invaded England’s cities during World War II, and has been creating havoc ever since
The British urban fox is particularly prevalent in Bristol, but metropolitan life is not as cushy as it may seem
Is this the world's most aggressive animal? Just the size of a fox, this badass raids beehives, steals from lions, shrugs off snake venom and never backs down…
Renowned for fighting larger animals, the honey badger (also known as the ratel) is a notorious mammal found across much of Africa and Asia.
9 jaw-dropping lion photos that showcase the raw, brutal power and savage majesty of these deadly apex predators
These incredible images of lions will take your breath away!
Christmas Island shrew lost forever in "one of the most mysterious of extinctions”
Australia’s only shrew has officially been declared extinct, killed off by non-native species introduced by humans.