The secret of New Zealand's geological past has been found in the unlikely hiding place of a tiny native bird's DNA.

The ninth birthday this week of Dolly the cloned sheep's four genetic siblings - Debbie, Denise, Diana and Daisy - prove that large cloned animals age normally, say scientists.

Scientists want to find out whether bits of plastic junk commonly found inside the stomachs of seabirds is killing them.

It was the greatest extinction event the world had ever known, wiping out more than 90% of marine life and around two thirds of animals on land.

A US researcher has discovered how to control multiple robotic drones using the human brain.

A record breeding season for New Zealand and the world's population of lovable but critically endangered kakapo has seen their numbers shoot up by an amazing 28 per cent to 157 individuals.

Animals' grunts and squeals help show off their personalities and how content they are in their pens.

The current diversity of feathers, fur and scales is part of what made their origins so mystifying to scientists.

Organisers of a nationwide survey are urging people to keep a sharp eye out for feathered visitors to their back gardens.

A major environmental group wants to see more money for conservation funding amid Thursday's Budget announcements.

Male nursery web spiders best not show up at a lady's house empty-handed. Because they could get eaten alive for it.

How did the giraffe get its improbable neck? Genetic analysis finds some clues

Tagging sharks, walking on volcanoes - science is a lot more than being stuck in a lab. Jamie Morton finds out how some researchers spend their days.

The University of Otago has announced plans for a new $50 million, five-storey animal research facility to be built at an undisclosed location.

The Madagascan Darwin's bark spider gives oral sex to female mates up to 100 times during sex. Its reward? Being eaten afterward.

The epic voyage of discovery looks at the social and natural history of our shores, and showcases Aoteaora from the air.

WATCH: They don't look like much, but these tiny trap-jaw spiders found only in NZ and southern South America are the Beauden Barretts of the arachnid world.

The team tested the two groups of birds using not only associative learning tasks, but innovative problem-solving tasks.

A new Israeli study has indicated that arachnophobes overestimate spider size compared with other neutral animals, such as birds and butterflies, that do not cause fear.

Why has one of our largest endangered bird species just become two new ones?

The curious case of a huddle of Aussie invaders that long managed to blend in with our native little blue penguins has just taken another twist.

Digby Livingston and Stephen Franks suggest the way to protect indigenous species is to farm them.

An Auckland biodiversity student is part of a team of scientists researching and monitoring humpback whales and their migration in the Cook Islands.

When you take out apex predators - such as sharks - from the ecosystem, you mess with nature and it disrupts the food chain, often having a negative impact on other species, writes Sam Judd.

The Environment Minister said the protection laws would be too legally complicated.

Stuffing wool in a shark's nose suggests smell is vital for navigation.

If I had been given one wish as a child, it would have been that the Tasmanian tiger wasn't extinct. To me, extinction was a tragedy.

A giant squid made its way into Japan's Toyama Bay on Christmas Eve, treating onlookers to a rare sighting of the magnificent creature.

Temba, a male chimp at Wellington Zoo, died on Saturday night after a fight with the alpha male of the group.