When it comes to snakes, most of the attention goes to highly venomous varieties (like cobras and vipers) and constrictors (like boas and pythons.) This makes sense since many of these species are either quite dangerous to humans or, at least, perceived to be. But there’s a remarkable diversity of snakes and their lifestyles—and some […] More
The number of Adélie Penguins, the species most common on the Antarctic Peninsula, has been steadily declining for several decades. At least, that’s what scientists thought, until researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NASA discovered something interesting in satellite imagery of the Danger Islands, off the peninsula’s northern coast. The images revealed guano (bird […] More
As global temperatures rise, ecosystems and the species they harbor are adjusting in response. Many habitats are either shifting their boundaries polewards—or disappearing altogether—sending wildlife into new regions, where they interact with resident creatures in surprising and often unprecedented ways. When this geographic collision is between two closely related species, they sometimes cross-breed, leading to […] More
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
Every feathered thing — from the hummingbirds flitting near your feeder to the falcons that haunt lonely cliffs — has something in common, and it’s not just that they’ve got wings. Today’s modern birds descended from a single, surviving line of carnivorous, theropod dinosaurs that became small, delicate, covered in feathers, and were gifted with […] More
Thanks to tens of thousands of years of increasingly complex tools and technology at our disposal, humans have become the most apex of apex predators on this planet, doing what our hominid ancestors could not: keep ourselves from becoming food. Well, mostly. As clever as we are, humans are still very much considered morsels by […] More
When most of us think of venomous animals, we probably picture cold-blooded creatures — reptiles like vipers or cobras, deadly spiders, or maybe a tropical fish festooned with stinging spines. But there are a select few venomous mammals that also deserve recognition for their chemical weaponry. Some more famous examples include the male platypus — […] 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
Archerfish attack prey in quite an unusual way — by spitting at it. They’ve got great aim, too. Adults almost always hit their target on the very first shot, dislodging and bringing down insects and small animals above water up to 10 feet away. These aptly-named fish hover underwater waiting for prey to come into […] More
DNA tests have confirmed that three crocodiles found in Florida over the past 5 years are “man-eating” Nile crocodiles that are actually native to Africa. And there are almost certainly more out there. A manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History stated, “The odds that the few of us who study Florida reptiles have […] More
Army ants are known for their colossal foraging groups, which can exceed 15 million individuals. These insanely productive ants are constantly on the move in search of prey, covering wide swaths of ground, with an entire colony capable of carrying and consuming thousands of prey items in a single day. But from time to time, […] 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
