Jhaneel is a travel-obsessed blogger and content writer based in New York City.
When caterpillars begin to change into butterflies, they usually aren’t much to look at. But some species create fancy chrome digs that look more like decoration than a transforming pupa. These shiny, metallic-looking chrysalises are thought to help protect the growing butterfly by fooling potential predators. When light reflects off the chrome-like pupae, other insects […] More
Meet the largest crab in the world. Weighing up to 40 pounds and reaching up to 18 feet from claw to claw, it can grow to triple the size of the average man! The Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi) is actually the largest known arthropod, a group which includes crustaceans, spiders, and insects. It’s usually […] More
They are the largest fish on the planet, reaching more than 40 feet in length and weighing up to 47,000 pounds. But as intimidating as their size may seem, whale sharks are virtually harmless. Unlike other sharks, these beautiful, bus-sized behemoths don’t have an appetite for flesh. Instead, they feed on plankton, which they filter […] More
Well, this bird isn’t playing nice! A sparrowhawk was spotted trying to kill a Jacobin cuckoo in a standoff that seemed to last forever as the victim fought desperately for its life. While it may seem unusual to see birds fighting like this, this is pretty normal behavior for sparrowhawks. Larger species—like this black sparrowhawk […] More
Forget peacocks. This Australian songbird may not have all the fancy colors, but it takes showing off for mates one step further. In addition to its striking plumage, which it fans out over its head and body during courtship displays, the lyrebird has the impressive ability to imitate almost any sound it hears. Typically these […] More
Towering above the trees of the savannah and constantly snacking, giraffes often appear unfazed by life around them — as few predators pose a threat to these impossibly tall animals. But as recent footage from Kruger National Park shows, they aren’t as untouchable as one might think. In the incredible video, a lioness can be […] More
Most people have heard of woolly mammoths. But another group of giant animals called Megatherium once roamed the earth even before the Ice Age. Meet the giant ground sloth. Megatherium (which translates quite aptly to “great beast”) is one of the largest known land-based mammals, eclipsed only by mammoths and an ancient species of rhinoceros […] More
If you have a cat or have ever gotten sucked into cat videos on YouTube, then you know that beneath their fluffy exterior, often lies a heart of steel. It may come as no surprise, then, that a tiny, adorable wild cat is one of the world’s deadliest killers. Weighing about 3 to 4 points […] More
If insects terrify you, then a group of giant centipedes that can kill and eat prey 15 times their size may just be your worst nightmare. With their potent venom and abundance of legs, regular-sized centipedes are already pretty scary. But species from the genus Scolopendra are capable of reaching incredibly large sizes—and they’ve got […] More
Meet the giant short-faced bear, a massive beast that roamed North and South America and dominated all sorts of other large predators until it went extinct about 11,000 years ago. View post on imgur.com Standing at 6 ft tall on all fours and weighing about 2,500 pounds, the short-faced bear was the largest carnivorous predator […] More
If you have a bird-feeder at home, you might want to keep an eye out for praying mantises. It turns out they not only eat pesky insects and bugs, but they sometimes target birds too. These bold-faced badasses linger near bird feeders and gardens, where they sit perfectly still and lay in wait for their […] More
Some monkeys are actually physically capable of producing human speech. But their brains just aren’t wired to do so, according to research published in Science Advances. Researchers recorded X-ray of a long-tailed macaque’s vocal and facial movements as he made different sounds, like coos, grunts, yawns and lip smacks. Then, they used a computer model to simulate possible […] More
