Believe it or not, Americans once considered importing hippos from Africa so we could raise them for meat. The idea was proposed back in 1910, while the United States was in the middle of a serious meat shortage. A massive population explosion combined with overgrazed farmland resulted in skyrocketing beef prices as farmers scrambled to […] More
Sharks are often seen as the top predators in the ocean, but these killer whales are reminding us why they’re a creature to be reckoned with. In a video captured by Slater Moore Photography and posted to Monteray Bay Whale Watch, offshore killer whales are seen feeding on what the company believed to be a sevengill shark. […] More
The word “yeti” conjures up a specific image in the folklore of Nepal and Tibet — a massive, shaggy, distinctly ape-like beast that wanders the frigid and desolate Himalayan snowscape. It certainly doesn’t evoke anything that looks like it’s about to impart wisdom about stopping forest fires. But, according to a recent study published in […] More
Every year, this South American salt flat turns into the world’s largest mirror. Known as Salar de Uyuni, this 4,086 square mile expanse stretches across much of southwestern Bolivia, and is in the record books as the planet’s biggest salt flat. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nature (@national.earth) The entire region is […] More
Image: Wikimedia Commons Little is known about this giant serpentine fish, which is shrouded in myth and legends. But one thing is clear, the oarfish is weirdly fascinating! Silver in color with a prominent dorsal fin running the entire length of their body, these long eel-like fish are often called the “king of herrings” or “ribbonfish.” […] More
It looks like this fish has seen better days. It’s stuck inside a jellyfish. Australian photographer Tim Samuel discovered this amazing pair while free diving off of Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia. He reported that the fish’s tail was sticking outside of the jellyfish, and that the seemingly confused duo was wobbling and swimming in […] 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
Australian researchers recently filmed an unusual sea creature that has been described as a “headless chicken monster” in the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica. Translucent and sporting fins that allowed it to swim upwards, the animal initially stumped the scientists, who described its appearance as “a chicken just before you put it in […] More
Like something out of a horror movie, parasitic Glyptapanteles wasp larvae survive by consuming their hosts from the inside out, then manipulating them into serving as bodyguards. The process is grisly: first, the female wasp begins by injecting approximately 80 eggs into an unlucky caterpillar victim. The eggs develop inside the creature, going through several molts and […] More
For humans, the allure of experimenting with intense, mind-altering substances is probably as old as our species. While certain drugs have had varying levels of legality and taboo status in some cultures, it’s hard to deny that our proclivity for taking our brains on a brief sojourn above the stratosphere is an old part of […] More
A Minnesota mushroom hunter happened upon quite a rare find: a stillborn two-headed fawn. This is a first — before this, the only known case of conjoined fawns had been observed in utero (inside the mother’s womb). “It’s amazing and extremely rare,” University of Georgia scientist Gino D’Angelo said in a statement. “We can’t […] More
Red-sided garter snakes have a strange mating ritual. As they emerge from hibernation in spring, thousands of male snakes will desperately rush the females in an epic battle to reproduce. The snakes form “mating balls,” in which one female can find herself outnumbered by dozens of frantically-writhing males. With up to 10,000 snakes living in […] More
