Scientists in China have revealed that one species of spider nourishes its newborns with “milk” — a behavior typically only observed in mammals. Toxeus magnus, an ant-mimicking jumping spider native to southeast Asia, secretes a highly nutritious milk-like fluid containing sugars, fats, and proteins to keep its young alive. The substance contains four times the […] More
These tiny mountain-dwelling marsupials have a unique and unusual mating strategy—the males mate frantically with multiple females until they drop dead. “Reproduce or die trying” is evidently the motto of the antechinus, a miniature shrew-like mammal found only in the remote mountaintops of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. For these animals, mating is a once […] More
Anacondas are four species of giant snakes native to South America, but the snake most commonly referred to as an “anaconda” is the green anaconda, which at 17.1 feet (5.21 meters) and 215 pounds (97.5 kilograms) is the largest and heaviest snake species and among the longest of all snakes. So, with that in mind, […] More
We can’t decide if this is fascinating or horrifying. Your opinion would probably depend on whether or not you’re a fan of spiders. A strange phenomenon sometimes occurs where certain species of spiders “rain down” on entire towns. Watch the video below to see one such sighting caught on camera: This behavior was recorded in San Antonio […] More
Jumping spiders, with their giant, shiny eyes, staccato movements, and stumpy bodies, are among the most charismatic arachnids out there. But all that charisma can’t erase the sense of alienness these spiders give off — perhaps an inevitable side-effect of the hundreds of millions of years of evolution separating them from humans. Now, new research suggests […] More
Hummingbirds may have tiny brains, but they’re unusually powerful. A new study, published in Current Biology, says the way the tiny birds fly — flitting abruptly in every direction and using rapidly-beating wings to hover — requires a lot of brain power. Hummingbirds are the only species of bird that’s able to truly hover, and to do […] More
Another battle in the heart of the African wilderness… Watch what happens when mongoose meets mamba! In Africa, the black mamba is one of the most feared snakes, and it is generally considered the most aggressive and dangerous snake in the world. The black mamba’s venom can kill an adult human in 7-15 hours, and […] More
In the popular Alien sci-fi film franchise, the titular species—known as the “xenomorph”—targets hapless humans, often horrifically implanting their bodies with its own eggs. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge explosively from their unwilling incubator, with invariably fatal results for the human host. The jarring life cycle seems like something cooked up entirely in […] More
Most of us are probably familiar with the occasional mid-night voyage to a drive-through window to quell the munchies. Well, one small species of bat takes the concept of long-distance moonlit foraging to whole other level. Lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) are native to a large swath of territory that takes up much of Mexico, […] More
When cicada nymphs emerge from the ground, a certain percentage of them—between 2 and 5 percent—will acquire a fungal infection. The parasite rapidly grows inside these unlucky insects, eventually destroying whole sections of their body. But while the fungus has been known to science for a century, recent research published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports […] More
With their arresting size, cunning, and athleticism, Africa’s big cats—like lions, leopards, and cheetahs—get plenty of attention as avatars of carnivory. But the swiftest death on the sun-baked savanna comes from an animal that doesn’t look all that different from the lovable mutt snoring on your couch. African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are among the […] More
As our planet gets warmer, more species are being brought closer together than ever as climate bands shift polewards and key resources move along with them. When the species are closely related, the increased interaction can result in cross-breeding—as is the case between polar bears and grizzlies. But the opposite response can also be true. […] More
