Colony

Giant Beaver

Ice Age beaver, supersized.

Scallops

The clapping swimmers of the seafloor

Executioner Wasp

Big paper wasp, bigger attitude

Red Paper Wasp

Open-comb builders of the Carolinas

Tailless Whip Scorpion

Feelers first. Pincers ready.

Pine Beetle

Small beetle, big forest change

Darkling Beetle

Masters of the dry and the dark

Bark Beetle

Under-bark engineers of the forest

Hornet

True hornets: paper architects, insect hunters

Powderpost Beetle

Fine frass, hidden hardwood borers

Snow Bunting

The Arctic's drifting "snowflake"

Rove Beetle

Short elytra, big ecological impact

Grebe

Lobed-toe divers with dance moves

Skua

Pirates of the polar seas

Corella

Australia's white cockatoo in full chorus

Conure

Long tails, loud calls, big brains

Damselfish

Small fish, big reef attitude

Pyrosome

Glowing tubes that filter the sea

Bagworm Moth Caterpillar

A moth that grows up in a backpack

Mudskipper

Fish that mastered the mud

Gypsy Moth

Big appetite. Big forest impact.

Urechis unicinctus (Penis Fish)

The mudflat innkeeper with a mucus net

Dinosaurs

One name, a million body plans

Swallow

Masters of the open air