In the animal kingdom, there are many, many penises. But the biggest penis of all belongs to the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale. The average length of a blue whale penis is 8 feet (2.4 meters) to 10 feet (3 meters), but the average diameter is only 12 inches (300 mm) […] More
Most people have heard of woolly mammoths. But another group of giant animals called Megatherium once roamed the earth even before the Ice Age. Meet the giant ground sloth. Megatherium (which translates quite aptly to “great beast”) is one of the largest known land-based mammals, eclipsed only by mammoths and an ancient species of rhinoceros […] More
If you have a cat or have ever gotten sucked into cat videos on YouTube, then you know that beneath their fluffy exterior, often lies a heart of steel. It may come as no surprise, then, that a tiny, adorable wild cat is one of the world’s deadliest killers. Weighing about 3 to 4 points […] More
If insects terrify you, then a group of giant centipedes that can kill and eat prey 15 times their size may just be your worst nightmare. With their potent venom and abundance of legs, regular-sized centipedes are already pretty scary. But species from the genus Scolopendra are capable of reaching incredibly large sizes—and they’ve got […] More
If you have a bird-feeder at home, you might want to keep an eye out for praying mantises. It turns out they not only eat pesky insects and bugs, but they sometimes target birds too. These bold-faced badasses linger near bird feeders and gardens, where they sit perfectly still and lay in wait for their […] 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
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
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
