Philosophy Science Psychology Society Culture

DonateNewsletterSIGN IN

Animals and humans

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

Painting of a black bird with a red tail on a white tree branch set against a blue sky and yellow landscape.

video

Nature and landscape

Scenes from Aboriginal Australian pottery chart the turn of the seasons

7 minutes

Illustration of a blue dragonfly, a green leaf insect and a brown butterfly wing on a light background.

video

History of science

Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful

8 minutes

A stork and chicks in a nest on a metal pylon above a grassy landscape with a river in the background.

essay

Animals and humans

To build a nest

Throughout the animal kingdom, the parents of newborns must strive to create snug sanctuaries in a hazardous world

Helen Jukes

Photo of a woman sleeping, resting her head and hand on a large dog, creating a cosy atmosphere.

video

Love and friendship

What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?

13 minutes

Photo of two polar bears exploring a decaying wooden building, one looks out a window, the other stands on the porch steps.

essay

Animals and humans

Humanlike?

Interpreting the emotional lives of animals requires a subtler and more nuanced understanding of anthropomorphism

Mike Dacey

Satellite image of South Dakota with glowing yellow lines representing data or energy pathways overlaid.

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

Join endangered whooping cranes on their perilous migratory path over North America

6 minutes

Black birds flying over snowy mountains with dramatic cloudy skies in the background.

essay

Evolution

Empire of flight

They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?

Antone Martinho-Truswell

A beaver dam on a calm lake surrounded by dense evergreen forest with mountains faintly visible in the background.

essay

Animals and humans

Animals taught us culture

Prehistoric humans didn’t create art and architecture out of nothing. They took inspiration from the nonhuman world

Sarah Newman

Photo of a black dog lying on a blue background with a purple button on its left and a yellow button on its right.

video

Language and linguistics

Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?

9 minutes

Photo of a wicker basket with two kittens and a squirrel inside against a decorative blue and white tiled wall.

video

Animals and humans

One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough

14 minutes

A cheetah cub playfully interacts with a brown dog on grass, with a toy in the background.

essay

Bioethics

Why the cat wags her tail

Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?

Mathilde Tahar-Malaussena

Photo of three children in winter jackets sitting on grassland near a stream with a plastic container between them.

video

Animals and humans

Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way

13 minutes

Photo of fishermen in a circle on a lake using large nets at sunrise with a distant island and hills in the background.

essay

Human evolution

The commitment to collaborate

Though natural selection favours self-interest, humans are extraordinarily good at cooperating with one another. Why?

Saira Khan

Photo of a gibbon mother holding her baby in a lush green forest setting.

video

Animals and humans

Villagers struggle to keep their beloved, endangered ape population afloat

19 minutes

A brown wren standing on a rock with a blurred background.

essay

Biology

In praise of subspecies

To lump or to split? Deciding whether an animal is a species or subspecies profoundly influences our conservation priorities

Richard Smyth

Photo of a giraffe seen through an arched doorway with brick and blue tiled walls in a zoo environment.

video

Animals and humans

Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control?

57 minutes

Line drawing of a frog from a below perspective, with circles of various sizes indicating ripples.

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth

15 minutes

A man with a long beard wearing glasses holding a net against a backdrop of a grassy field and cloudy sky.

video

Animals and humans

The wild tale of a young animal keeper, an angry tiger and a torn circle net

10 minutes

Aerial view of a coastal area at dusk with multiple streaks of red light travelling over water and land, illuminating the landscape.

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds

6 minutes

video

Space exploration

The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space

12 minutes

Close-up photo of butterfly wing scales in shades of orange, pink, white and black arranged in a mosaic-like pattern.

video

Biology

Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings

3 minutes

Illustration of four adult giraffes, and a young one lying down, with Mount Kilimanjaro and acacia trees in the background.

video

Ageing and death

We’re not the only animals that appear to grieve. What are the implications?

6 minutes

Split image showing two types of coral, a hard coral on the left and a soft coral with tentacles on the right, both in deep blue light.

video

Biotechnology

It’s our responsibility to engineer corals that can weather the world we’ve created

11 minutes

Medieval manuscript illustration of a goat and a person holding a disc, with gold circles in the background, surrounded by text in Latin script.

essay

Philosophy of mind

The problem of erring animals

Three medieval thinkers struggled to explain how animals could make mistakes – and uncovered the nature of nonhuman minds

Sam Alma