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
The world’s tiniest monkeys are actually not one, but two separate species, researchers using the latest genomics techniques learned recently. First discovered by a German researcher named Johann Spix in 1823, the itty bitty creatures, which average 0.2 pounds in weight, were named Cebuella pygmaea. Now, researchers have discovered there are actually two tiny species of marmoset […] 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
All sorts of strange giant predators roamed the Earth thousands of years ago during the Ice Age. But new research is changing what scientists thought they knew about one of those animals — a giant saber-toothed cat with long, serrated steak-knife teeth that may have existed alongside early modern humans. Homotherium — or the scimitar […] More
Sea turtles are specially designed for swimming: their flippers are incredibly good at dispersing water, propelling them through the water for miles at a time. However, those fingerless limbs typically don’t help much when it comes to handling their food … or so scientists thought until now. While they typically rely on just their mouths, […] More
Instantly recognizable by the horrified, woeful expression on their upturned faces, stargazers are among the most fascinating (and frightening) fish in the ocean — capable of vacuuming up, electrocuting and delivering deadly venom to their enemies. The fish, named for the upward-facing eyes and gaping mouths located strategically at the top of their heads, are […] More
Image: FB/WolfWatchUK Meet Madadh, the oldest known wolf to have ever been recorded. While the average wolf in the wild lives to only 8 and those in captivity rarely make it to 14, this female overcame the odds and thrived into her 19th year. Madadh, also known as “Maddie,” was a captive and well-socialized Canadian […] 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
City-dwelling birds have found an innovative way to ward off parasites: they line their nests with the discarded cigarette butts they find on the streets. It’s not unusual for birds to build their nests with plants that repel pests like ticks and mites, but cigarettes are a clever modern adaptation. The nicotine in the cigarettes […] 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
Human activities have threatened jaguars for decades, drastically reducing their original habitat across every continent where the animals appear. But in one region of South America, human intervention may actually be helping to save the largest jaguar on the planet. Stretching through Brazil and parts of Paraguay and Bolivia, the Pantanal region is considered the […] 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
