Researchers at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) were at sea surveying one of New Zealand’s commercial fish species when they unexpectedly hauled in a 13-foot giant squid. NIWA researchers say they generally only catch the species once in a decade, so this was quite a rare find. The team reported […] More
Meet the frogmouth, a group of birds with an oddly amphibian resemblance. Frogmouths are nocturnal birds that you might mistake for owls at first glance; however, they’re most closely related to nightjars. These unique-looking birds sport wide, frog-like gapes and are found throughout the forests of India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. 🔥 These Sri Lanka […] More
Viewers on a popular wildlife live cam got quite a show when a crocodile appeared onscreen with a colossal python in its jaws. The encounter was seen on Explore.org‘s “Africam,” a live streaming webcam where observers can watch Africa’s wildlife in real time. This particular croc was patrolling the banks of the Olifants River of […] More
Thanks to Charles Darwin, the Galapagos Islands are famous for their isolation, their diversity of life, and their role in supporting the theory of evolution. On these islands, you will find giant tortoises, penguins, fifteen species of finches, and even marine iguanas. Yet, none of these animals are dangerous, apex predators. That distinction belongs to […] More
Scientists have gained new insight into the evolutionary development of brain and nervous system tissue, after examining fossilized brain tissue from a Cambrian sea creature that lived in modern-day Greenland half a billion years ago. The extinct species, Kerygmachela kierkegaardi, was a predator with a long, spiny tail and front appendages used to grab prey. At […] More
A baby snake that hatched 99 million years ago on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean was found encased in amber. The snake, just 4 inches long, was discovered in a chunk of resin in what is now known as Myanmar. It was initially misidentified as a centipede and subsequently sold to […] More
Paper money does exist on Makira, a small island in the eastern Solomon Islands. But the people there don’t always count their fortunes in bills and change; on Makira, bat teeth are more valuable than money, and people hunt the creatures – mostly for food, but often, for their teeth. There are two species of […] More
One of the most breathtaking and incredible migrations on the planet is made by a creature you might not expect: the monarch butterfly. It is a sight to behold. Unable to survive the cold winters of North America, millions of these incredible butterflies travel 50-100 miles a day to reach the forests of central Mexico at […] More
Off the coast of Liberia lies an island inhabited solely by chimpanzees that were infected with a barrage of diseases and abandoned there by a testing lab. It sounds like the beginning of a movie, but there’s nothing fictional about this place. New visitors to “Monkey Island”—as it’s called by locals—are unwelcome. Apart from a […] More
Forget the reindeer decorations — folks in some parts of the world adorn their Christmas trees with spider ornaments, instead. The unusual arachnid ornaments are part of a centuries-old Eastern European Christmas tradition. The legend of the Christmas spider is believed to have originated in Ukraine, and according to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, […] More
Christmas Island, a tiny Australian territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean, has a bit of a crab problem. An estimated 40 to 50 million Christmas Island crabs reside on this 52 square mile island. In comparison, the human population there is only about 2,000. Each year, these fire-engine red crustaceans make their way […] More
Early humans roamed the planet with a colossal shaggy rhinoceros that scientists have dubbed the “Siberian unicorn.” The so-called unicorn, officially known as Elasmotherium sibericum, was a large rhinoceros that wandered Eastern Europe and Central Asia from 2.6 million years ago until just around 39,000 years ago. The animals weighed a staggering 4 tons and were adorned […] More
