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About Rachael Funnell

Rachael Funnell

Rachael Funnell

Senior Science Writer

About the Author

Rachael is a writer and zoologist with a degree from the University of Southampton, specializing in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment. As a producer for CURIOUS Live, IFLScience's virtual event, she has led engaging discussions on forensic pathology, taphonomy, entomology, and botany on the Death Stage, with further events scheduled for 2025. As co-editor of CURIOUS, IFLScience’s e-magazine, Rachael crafts travel features exploring the science behind Earth’s most fascinating habitats and landmarks, and dives into the latest sci-fi TV, films, and books. She is also a host on the Break It Down, We Have Questions, and The Big Questions podcasts, and produces and presents video content for YouTube and social media.

Read IFLScience Editorial Policy

ACADEMIC HISTORY

Southampton University, BSc Zoology , 2014

TIME AT IFLSCIENCE

2020 - PRESENT

3,191 PUBLISHED ARTICLES

LOCATION

London

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

AnimalsEvolutionPalaeontology Funerary practiceForensics
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Latest from Rachael Funnell

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Want To Know If Someone Likes You? Science Suggests A Key Vocal Feature Can Reveal Who We Like, And Influence Who Likes Usa man and woman looking at each other
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Want To Know If Someone Likes You? Science Suggests A Key Vocal Feature Can Reveal Who We Like, And Influence Who Likes Us

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Between Burnout And Bed Rotting, Some Humans Spend 86 Percent Of The Day Not Moving. Just 15 Minutes Could Turn Things Aroundwoman drawing the curtains it's a great day to get outside

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Between Burnout And Bed Rotting, Some Humans Spend 86 Percent Of The Day Not Moving. Just 15 Minutes Could Turn Things Aroundwoman drawing the curtains it's a great day to get outside
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Between Burnout And Bed Rotting, Some Humans Spend 86 Percent Of The Day Not Moving. Just 15 Minutes Could Turn Things Around

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A 1998 Study Asked A Man To Read A Number During An “Out-Of-Body Experience”. In A Freaky Turn Of Events, He Saw Something Else Entirelya man is lying on a bed looks like his ghost is leaving his body

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A 1998 Study Asked A Man To Read A Number During An “Out-Of-Body Experience”. In A Freaky Turn Of Events, He Saw Something Else Entirelya man is lying on a bed looks like his ghost is leaving his body
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A 1998 Study Asked A Man To Read A Number During An “Out-Of-Body Experience”. In A Freaky Turn Of Events, He Saw Something Else Entirely

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Banana Blossom Bathtubs, Fish-Faced Birds, And Wig-Wearing Reptiles: The Best And Most Ridiculous Of The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Finalists 2026a bird has a bath in a petal full of water

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Banana Blossom Bathtubs, Fish-Faced Birds, And Wig-Wearing Reptiles: The Best And Most Ridiculous Of The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Finalists 2026a bird has a bath in a petal full of water
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Banana Blossom Bathtubs, Fish-Faced Birds, And Wig-Wearing Reptiles: The Best And Most Ridiculous Of The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Finalists 2026

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The World’s Smallest Crocodile Lives In A Cave, With Orange Skin So Thin You Can See Its Skeleton – Life In “AFRICA: Earth’s Wild Home”orange crocodile next to a grey-brown crocodile

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The World’s Smallest Crocodile Lives In A Cave, With Orange Skin So Thin You Can See Its Skeleton – Life In “AFRICA: Earth’s Wild Home”orange crocodile next to a grey-brown crocodile
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Yes, A Shark Can Hear You Scream. Scientists Just Proved They Can Hear Up To 70 Meters Awaya woman underwater screaming near sharks

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Yes, A Shark Can Hear You Scream. Scientists Just Proved They Can Hear Up To 70 Meters Away

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El Niño Can Trigger Planetary-Scale "Kelvin Waves" Across The Pacific, And It’s Thought One Is Headed For California This Fall – Here’s What That Meanscoastal storm in california

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El Niño Can Trigger Planetary-Scale "Kelvin Waves" Across The Pacific, And It’s Thought One Is Headed For California This Fall – Here’s What That Meanscoastal storm in california
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El Niño Can Trigger Planetary-Scale "Kelvin Waves" Across The Pacific, And It’s Thought One Is Headed For California This Fall – Here’s What That Means

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One Of The World’s Most Unusual Humpback Whale Populations Sings A Song Unique To The Arabian Sea. Now, Scientists Are Saying It's A New Subspeciesa whale breaches out of the water

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One Of The World’s Most Unusual Humpback Whale Populations Sings A Song Unique To The Arabian Sea. Now, Scientists Are Saying It's A New Subspeciesa whale breaches out of the water
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One Of The World’s Most Unusual Humpback Whale Populations Sings A Song Unique To The Arabian Sea. Now, Scientists Are Saying It's A New Subspecies

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10 Million Years Ago, Miniature Whales Swam In The Largest Lake Ever To Have Existed On Earth: The Megalake “Paratethys”animals in megalake paratethys, there's a whale, seal, and elephant-like creatures

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10 Million Years Ago, Miniature Whales Swam In The Largest Lake Ever To Have Existed On Earth: The Megalake “Paratethys”animals in megalake paratethys, there's a whale, seal, and elephant-like creatures
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10 Million Years Ago, Miniature Whales Swam In The Largest Lake Ever To Have Existed On Earth: The Megalake “Paratethys”

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Creepy Study Challenged People To See Into Another Room Through An Out-Of-Body Experience. They Failed, But Then Something Really Weird Happenedillustration of someone leaving their body, a door is opening in the corner

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Creepy Study Challenged People To See Into Another Room Through An Out-Of-Body Experience. They Failed, But Then Something Really Weird Happenedillustration of someone leaving their body, a door is opening in the corner
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Creepy Study Challenged People To See Into Another Room Through An Out-Of-Body Experience. They Failed, But Then Something Really Weird Happened

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Why Were These Skeletons Shackled In Their Coffins In Poland's Drawsko 1 Cemetery Site? Somebody Really Didn't Want Them To Get Back Uptwo skeletons, one has a sickle around its neck, the other a rock on their throat

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Why Were These Skeletons Shackled In Their Coffins In Poland's Drawsko 1 Cemetery Site? Somebody Really Didn't Want Them To Get Back Uptwo skeletons, one has a sickle around its neck, the other a rock on their throat
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Why Were These Skeletons Shackled In Their Coffins In Poland's Drawsko 1 Cemetery Site? Somebody Really Didn't Want Them To Get Back Up

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One Of Nature's Greatest Spectacles Sees Thousands Of Groupers Spawn Under A Full Moon. How Do They Know When To Gather, And Why At A Full Moon?lots of fish gather above corals

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One Of Nature's Greatest Spectacles Sees Thousands Of Groupers Spawn Under A Full Moon. How Do They Know When To Gather, And Why At A Full Moon?lots of fish gather above corals
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One Of Nature's Greatest Spectacles Sees Thousands Of Groupers Spawn Under A Full Moon. How Do They Know When To Gather, And Why At A Full Moon?

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Zookeepers Dress Up As A Crowned Crane To Protect Pip, An Endangered Chick, And It's As Adorable As You'd Expecta small chick looks at a giant hand puppet made to look like its crowned crane parent

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Zookeepers Dress Up As A Crowned Crane To Protect Pip, An Endangered Chick, And It's As Adorable As You'd Expecta small chick looks at a giant hand puppet made to look like its crowned crane parent
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Zookeepers Dress Up As A Crowned Crane To Protect Pip, An Endangered Chick, And It's As Adorable As You'd Expect

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What’s Up With Alaska’s Orange Rivers? A Concerning “New Reality Of Climate Change” Is Having An Unpredicted Impactlandscape in alaska shows orange water running from a tributary into a waterway

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What’s Up With Alaska’s Orange Rivers? A Concerning “New Reality Of Climate Change” Is Having An Unpredicted Impactlandscape in alaska shows orange water running from a tributary into a waterway
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What’s Up With Alaska’s Orange Rivers? A Concerning “New Reality Of Climate Change” Is Having An Unpredicted Impact

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A “Ghost Dolphin” Washed Up On A Beach In Brazil. Its Wounds Revealed The First-Ever Record Of It Being Hunted By An Unlikely Predatorclose up of a great white shark, it has pointy teeth

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A “Ghost Dolphin” Washed Up On A Beach In Brazil. Its Wounds Revealed The First-Ever Record Of It Being Hunted By An Unlikely Predatorclose up of a great white shark, it has pointy teeth
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A “Ghost Dolphin” Washed Up On A Beach In Brazil. Its Wounds Revealed The First-Ever Record Of It Being Hunted By An Unlikely Predator

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