A feature in The Atlantic asks whether animals understand their own mortality. “Comparative thanatology,” the study of how animals experience death, is a small field that dates back to Aristotle, who ...

Recent investigations into children’s understanding of death reveal an intricate interplay between cognitive development, emotional exposure, cultural context and media representations. Children's ...

What do animals know about death? It's a question Charles Darwin himself pondered. "Who can say what cows feel, when they surround and stare intently on a dying or dead companion?" the biologist wrote ...

In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carried an infant that she had recently given birth to, and which was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon ...

Last week, I ran across a DVD of the animated Disney classic The Lion King. In the movie, there is an explicit death of a protagonist character, Mufasa. This death scene and the recent mass shootings ...

The question of whether dogs know when they are about to die has intrigued veterinarians, animal behaviorists, and pet owners for years. For many, it stems from witnessing subtle changes in their pets ...

Throughout history, humans have given a lot of thought to death. We’ve grappled with our mortality, created elaborate burial rituals, and contemplated how best to mourn the loss of a loved one. But ...