Perhaps one of the world’s best known fossils is Archaeopteryx. With its beautifully preserved feathers, it has long been regarded as the first bird in the fossil record, and is often called “the icon of evolution”. Only a handful of specimens have ever been found, its elusivity adding to its fascination.

Efforts to preserve nature are way off what is required, and a “global deal” in the mould of the Paris climate agreement is needed to bring it back from the brink, a report has warned. 

Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the longstanding question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry deadly diseases.

Trophy hunting in Africa is no different to the harvesting of surplus wild animals by farmers in countries like Sweden to keep populations at sustainable levels. And it is largely because of hunting that South Africa and Namibia have been responsible for the world’s biggest-ever rewilding of former agricultural land.