Some lady lizards don’t need no man—they reproduce all on their own. Several species of female whiptail lizards from the southwestern United States and Mexico are capable of producing viable offspring without the help of fertilization. In fact, they’re so good at it that the species consists only of females. No males are known to exist. […] More
Imagine a giant column of ice that freezes everything it comes in contact with. Well, this isn’t the stuff of nightmares or doomsday films; this strange phenomenon is very real. Brinicles — also known as “ice stalactites,” or fittingly, “icy fingers of death” — are hollow tubes of ice that surround a plume of salt […] More
Talk about weird defensive strategies! When attacked, this cricket ejects blood from various parts of its body and vomits all over itself. Native to parts of southern Africa, the armored ground cricket is one tough creature, as its name suggest. The large, flightless insect is impressively outfitted with an armored exoskeleton, five rows of spikes […] More
A scientist roaming the Amazon happened upon quite an extremely rare sight recently: a moth drinking a sleeping bird’s tears. Herpetologist Leandro Moraes was in search of amphibians and reptiles along the Solimões River in Brazil when he came across the peculiar duo. The black-chinned antbird, snoozing away and seemingly unbothered, had one eye pried […] More
Deep-sea researchers have discovered three new species of ghostly fish in one of the deepest places on earth. The three species—temporarily named the pink, blue, and purple Atacama snailfishes— are gelatinous eel-like creatures that thrive under crushing pressure. With their teeth and tiny inner ear bones making up the hardest parts of their bodies, they are […] More
Did you know it snows in Africa? Yep, the usually hot and arid continent gets its fair share of winter weather at high elevations. In fact, after an unusually heavy snowfall blanketed South Africa last winter, safari-goers were treated to an unusual scene as various wildlife frolicked through what appeared to be a winter wonderland. […] More
Africanized honey bees are some of the planet’s most feared insects—but what makes them so dangerous? Often referred to as “killer bees,” these intimidating insects have developed a pretty nasty reputation for having caused up to a thousand human deaths. They were imported from Africa to South America in 1956 in an attempt to create […] More
Russia intends to open a “Jurassic Park-style” cloning facility to resurrect ancient creatures like the woolly mammoth by 2020. The $5.9 million “mammoth center” will be based at Northern-Eastern Federal University (NEF), an institution in Russia’s northeast region. The university, based in Yakutsk, has already located DNA from animals that were preserved in the region’s permafrost […] More
Scientists have deployed autonomous robots to annihilate hordes of coral-consuming starfish that are quietly destroying Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Over the last decade, a population explosion of ravenous crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) has led to widespread damage along the reef, which is already imperiled by other threats like pollution, coral bleaching, and hurricanes. The astronomical growth in the population […] More
Yet another invasive species is taking over the Sunshine State, and they’re leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Hordes of green iguanas, native to Central and South America and the Caribbean, are invading South Florida yards, parks, and swimming pools — joining other invasive reptiles like Burmese pythons, Nile crocodiles and giant tegus. Attracted to a […] More
Peregrine falcons are superstars of aerial precision, plummeting to the earth at up to 200 miles per hour to catch small birds in flight. But scientists have long wondered how exactly the birds manage to consistently hit their mark while plunging towards their prey at such breakneck speeds. Recent research sheds new light on their […] More
A roadside truck stop owner criticized for keeping an endangered tiger caged on his parking lot property has acquired two new exotic animals for display. Animal activists were horrified by the living conditions that Tony, a now-deceased endangered Siberian tiger, lived in for nearly 20 years at the Tiger Truck Stop. Car exhaust, constant traffic, […] More
