For an elephant calf, everything is new and interesting and needs to be investigated. That includes a truckload of tourists. Enter the mother elephant. In this video submitted to Kruger Sightings, an elephant mother and its calf — still in its first few months of life — walks out of the bush and into the […] More
This looks like a scene straight out of The Lion King (before it got sad). In the adorable footage below, lion cub triplets at the Oregon Zoo’s Predators of the Serengeti Habitat were captured playing outside with their dad Zawadi Mungu for the first time. Video: When a lioness is pregnant, she goes off alone to […] 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
This four-legged creature boasts both hopping and galloping capabilities — making for the distinctive appearance of a deer crossed with a rabbit. The Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum) is perhaps one of the world’s most unusual creatures. This rare animal is found only in Argentina, persisting in diverse habitats ranging from lowland forests to barren plains. They especially favor […] More
The Indian bullfrog may not look like much until it’s time to impress the ladies. When this frog is ready to mate, he changes color from a dull olive green (below) to a brilliant shade of yellow. As if that weren’t fancy enough, his vocal sacs turn bright blue to perfectly contrast his new skin […] More
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
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
A marine biologist in Australia recently captured incredible cephalopod video footage — an octopus rolling a plastic pipe containing its eggs back into the ocean after it had washed ashore. Sheree Marris was walking along a beach in Melbourne when she happened upon a discarded plastic pipe. Picking it up to examine it, she noticed […] More
Pet allergies are pretty common, but if your fluffy house cat leaves you sneezing and dabbing your watery eyes, does that mean you’d also be allergic to big cats in the wild? It’s more than likely. While there’s not a lot of research on this, there is evidence that big cats like lions, tigers, and […] More
The fearsome alligator snapping turtle is a uniquely-adapted hunter best known for its powerful jaws and quick bite. They are endemic to the Southeastern region of the United States, where they muck around the muddy bottoms of rivers, lakes, and canals. Though they are named for alligators because of their ridged shells, these prehistoric-looking creatures […] More
Despite the fact that most of the earth’s surface (71%) is covered by water, what lies beneath is still largely a mystery. Humans have explored less than 5% of the world’s oceans, which hold nearly all of the water on our planet. Yet even with our limited underwater expeditions, we have already discovered some amazing […] More
