Articles
Why This Common Garden Spider Has Spikes on Its Body
Orb-weaving spiders linger in the corners of gardens, largely ignored. But if you take a macro view, as shown in…
Articles
Articles
Second Fatal Shark Attack in Australia in One Week Stuns Divers
Spearfishing is a pastime enjoyed by many in the waters off the Australian coast. But a deadly shark attack on…
Articles
The Animal That Takes “Baby Wearing” to the Next Level
Baby wearing is the practice of using a special sling or wrap to carry a baby. Humans aren’t the only…
Articles
The African Bird That Tricks Fish with a Shadow Umbrella
A video from the Pangolin Wildlife Photography YouTube channel gives us insight into the extraordinary hunting style of the black…
Blog
Mammals Known for Incredible Longevity
Mammals are quite diverse. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and activity levels. They also differ widely by lifespan.…
Articles
The Surprising Reason Donkeys Need Pedicures Every 10 Weeks
We all like to be pampered every once in a while. Animals are similar, but their pampering is usually a…
Articles
The Spider That’s Bigger Than a Dinner Plate
Not all big spiders are dangerous, even though they look quite scary! The sweet but massive tarantula in this incredible…
Articles
Indigenous Lands Protect Wildlife Better Than Many Government Parks, Research Says
Despite a lack of resources and recognition, lands managed by Indigenous Peoples keep pace with—and in some cases outperform—similar lands…
Articles
Humpback Whales Keep Opening Their Mouths and Nobody Knows Why
Picture this. You’re on a whale watching trip in an exotic locale, when a giant humpback whale swims up next…
Articles
How “Climate Sentinels” Are Mapping the Changing Arctic
Narwhals are some of the most unusual whales in the world due to their long, spiral-shaped tusk. They inhabit the…
Articles
Virginia’s Most Dangerous Snakes You May Encounter This Summer
Snakes have a way of making people panic, especially in the summer when more of us are outside hiking, gardening,…
Articles
Why Did the Golden Toad Vanish from Its Cloud Forest Overnight?
Golden toads never spent a lot of time in the open, but no one expected them to disappear altogether. These…
Articles
Dr. Pimple Popper for Pigeons?
Many people have gone down the pimple-popping rabbit hole online. Whether you like the videos or not, it’s hard to…
Articles
The Falkland Islands Wolf Went Extinct Because It Trusted Us
Across the planet, islands are homes to species of animals that cannot be found anywhere else. Isolated from the mainland,…
Articles
A Spider Builds Tiny Stonehenge Structures and No One Knows Why
Silkhenge spiders were an unknown species until just over a decade ago. This is why when scientists stumbled upon a…
Articles
The 530-Pound Tiger the Soviet Union Drove to Extinction
Mother Nature can be merciless, but human activity sometimes far outweighs her cruelty. Some of the world’s most tragic extinctions…
Articles
Why Buying a Baby Gibbon Can Imperil an Entire Family
In the hills of northern Thailand, the Omkoi Wildlife Sanctuary has become a critical refuge for one of the region’s…
Articles
The Secret Nesting Ritual of Sea Turtles, Revealed
Turtle nesting season is upon us, so we thought this was a good time to reveal the secret nesting ritual…
Articles
A Hawaiian Bird Sang for Its Mate in 1987. No One Answered.
One of the most joyous things about the arrival of spring is the return of birdsong. Few things are as…
Articles
The Gentle Giant That Science Discovered and Destroyed in Three Decades
It took just 27 years for us to discover, formally describe, and drive a sea cow species to extinction. The…
Articles
Some Birds’ Feathers Are Designed to Self-Destruct on Schedule
For most birds, looking good for spring means undergoing a partial molt. Because feathers are pure protein, shedding and rebuilding…
Articles
What “Milking” a King Cobra Really Looks Like
Snake venom is extracted, or “milked,” for a few main reasons, such as to make antivenoms. This job sounds incredibly…
Articles
Why Do 100,000 Birds Move as One? Science Explains
Have you ever glanced up at the sky in late summer or the fall and seen a huge flock of…
Articles
Adorable or Alarming? Dogs Encounter a Wild Sea Lion at the Beach
The world is full of the most unlikely friendships. Animals are no exception, with some interactions being the cutest things…
Articles
A Single Skull Just Rewrote What We Know About Stegosaurs
The evolutionary path of dinosaurs is better understood today than at any other time in history. But just because there…
Education
Urban Wildlife: A Free Unit Plan on Animals in Our Neighborhood
Urban wildlife, or animals that live in human neighborhoods, cities and towns, exist all around us, co-inhabiting our environment, and…
Articles
How Oil Infrastructure Became an Ecological Trap for Wood Bison
Reintroduced animal populations face many challenges. When they are introduced to habitats with human infrastructure, it adds an extra layer…
Articles
Trapped in Glue, Stuffed in Tubes: How Parrots Reach Your Pet Store
World Parrot Day is a fitting time to zoom in on the current state of parrot populations in the wild…
Articles
How Fast Is a Viper Strike? This Slow-Motion Video Shows All
Snakes are some of the stealthiest and deadliest hunters in nature. Using their powerful bites and lethal poison, they can…
Articles
The Quagga Was Hunted to Extinction and Now Scientists Are Recreating It
Most people have seen a zebra in person, either in the wild or in captivity. Their black and white stripes…
Articles
A Live Fish Is Writhing Inside This Bird’s Neck
Have you ever been so hungry that you didn’t even stop to chew your food, instead gulping it down as…
Articles
Watch a Barn Owl Strike in Breathtaking Slow Motion
Watching a barn owl hunt is a truly wonderful sight, but watching it close up and in slow-motion is breathtaking.…
Articles
How Donkeys Became Essential to Life on Hydra
In most towns, the sound of traffic is so constant that residents barely notice it anymore. However, on the Greek island…
Articles
The 6 Categories of Nature’s Incredible Spider Webs
Every spider can spin silk; it’s one of the defining characteristics of the order Araneae, alongside venomous fangs, two-part bodies,…
Articles
Beavers Are Sunbathing in Midday, and It’s Not Due to Rabies
Some animals are natural sun worshippers. We often see dogs or cats lying out on a warm sunny day, soaking…
Articles
Urban Hedgehogs Are Hibernating in Litter, and It Could Cost Them
Scientists have long known that birds use our trash to build their nests. Researchers have found bird nests that incorporate…
Articles
This Tiger Scratches a Tree and Sends 3 Messages at Once
It’s hard to deny that even the fiercest big cat looks like a tabby when it engages in certain behaviors.…
Articles
How 150 Dogs Traveled 260 Miles to Save Alaskan Residents from a Deadly Epidemic
Nome, Alaska, sits just two degrees north of the Arctic Circle. A historic Alaskan town, Nome was the site of…
Articles
The Blue-Eyed Warning Sign That Means a Snake Is About to Shed
Have you ever suffered a terrible sunburn and noticed your skin peeling off in sheets? Now imagine peeling off all…
Articles
Inside the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation
If you peered down on Florida from above, you’d see a green ribbon of forests, rivers, ranches, and wetlands stretching…
Animals
Where You’re Most Like to Spot Great White Sharks Off the Coast of Cape Cod
In recent years, the waters off Cape Cod have become one of the most famous areas for great white sharks…
Blog
Creatures that Thrive in the Scorching Heat
While extreme heat is unbearable to many humans, some animals are perfectly suited for high temperatures. Deserts, savannas, and other…
Blog
Dangerous Animals Hiding at the Beach
The beach is peaceful and relaxing, but many coastlines are filled with creatures burrowed beneath the sand or hiding just…
Blog
Cat Behaviors Scientists Still Can’t Fully Explain
Cats have lived as companions to humans for thousands of years. Despite being both well-studied and one of the most…
Articles
Zebra Finches Practice Singing 1,000 Times a Day. Here’s Why That Matters.
Calling someone a bird-brain may not be the insult it was intended to be. Although small in size, some birds’…
Blog
African Insects You Definitely Don’t Want to Sting You
Africa is not short on intimidating insects, and a surprising number of them come with painful stings. While most of…
Blog
South American Animals That Look Almost Fake
South America has the most diverse wildlife of any continent, with an extremely high species count. And some of South…
Blog
The Weird Side of African Wildlife
Africa is home to some of the most fascinating wildlife on Earth. After all, there’s a reason you think of…
Blog
Colors That Attract Birds (and a Few That Repel Them)
Birds rely on their eyesight to locate food, water, shelter, and safe places to nest. They are highly perceptive of…
Blog
A Python Grabbed a Mongoose … and Then 10 More Showed Up
Most animals know better than to tussle with a snake, but mongooses are not most animals. In the tense viral…