In the last few months, poachers have killed 87 elephants for their tusks near a wildlife sanctuary in Botswana. Scientists say this is the largest elephant slaughter ever recorded in Africa. The nonprofit group Elephants Without Borders spotted the bodies with tusks missing near Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage region, while conducting aerial surveys […] More
Jacanas or “Jesus birds” are known around the world for their enormous feet and claws, which they use to effortlessly saunter across floating vegetation. Their long, thin toes spread weight evenly over a large area, which allows them to traipse along lily pads and other floating plants in search of fish, mollusks, crabs, and insects. […] More
Large flightless birds that once thrived in the forests of New Zealand may be one step closer to resurrection. Cousins to the ostrich and emu, moa were once New Zealand’s dominant herbivores, roaming the forests to feed on twigs and other plant material. Unlike other flightless birds, they are the only completely wingless birds known to have […] More
Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you find out there’s a parasite that eats the tongues of fish before setting up shop inside their mouths. The tongue-eating louse, or Cymothoa exigua, is a tiny crustacean that survives by severing the tongues of fish, then attaching itself to the leftover stub — essentially becoming the […] More
China’s recent ban on plastic imports could create a massive trash disposal problem for the rest of the world — creating a massive pile-up of tons of plastic with nowhere to go. For the last 26 years, China has been importing recycled scraps generated by wealthy Western countries like the United States and turning that trash into new […] More
You’re probably heard of cicadas, the buzzing swarms of noisy insects that emerge each summer. But what about their predators, the cicada killers—colossal digging wasps with sizable jaws and an appetite solely for cicadas? With a name like “cicada killer,” you might suspect that these insects would be particularly brutal, and you’d be right. The […] More
Want to meet a spider so large it eats the heaviest insects on earth for breakfast? Head to New Zealand. The Rangatira spider (Dolomedes schauinslandi) is a colossal arachnid found only on three relatively undisturbed islands of New Zealand – and it eats giant wētā for dinner. It’s a whopper and it eats wētā. The […] More
Sizing up competitors can often be a bit of a gamble for many species, but lemurs can instantly sniff out weakness in their counterparts. A decade-long research project at Duke University recently revealed that the endangered primates native to Madagascar can identify each other’s weaknesses just by the scent they leave behind. That’s bad news […] More
Humans aren’t the best neighbors. In fact, we’re so annoying that animals are turning to a nocturnal existence in order to avoid human interaction. A recent study published in Science found that naturally diurnal animals that live near urban areas are becoming nocturnal in order to avoid frightening encounters with people. And the phenomenon is playing […] More
A new species of parasitoid wasp has been discovered in the Amazon with an insanely huge stinger that scientists describe as a “fierce weapon.” A team from the University of Turku in Finland identified the terrifying wasp while studying samples collected in a biologically diverse region between the Andes and the Amazonian lowland forest. They described […] More
In a bit of poetic justice, a group of suspected rhino poachers who snuck into the Sibuya Game Reserve in South Africa became an unlikely meal for a pride of lions. A guide at the game reserve discovered human remains strewn across a thickly vegetated area near the lions last week. Due to the condition of […] More
We hate to break it to you arachnophobes, but some species of spider can fly. Not with wings, of course (that would be weird). Instead, the tiny arachnids take to the air using a genius technique called ballooning. How does it work? First, to prepare for lift-off, the spiders anchor themselves to a structure for […] More
