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Conservation

The pale tiger found in Tamil Nadu

Cool Finds

Stunning Images Capture Rare Pale Tiger in India

An unusual genetic combination likely led to the creature’s exceptionally light coloration

A horseshoe crab.

Future of Conservation

Forget Dinos: Horseshoe Crabs Are Stranger, More Ancient—And Still Alive Today

But now evolution’s ultimate survivors may be in danger

One of the mine-hunting dolphins being retrained to find vaquita porpoises

Trending Today

Mexico Will Use Dolphins to Herd the Endangered Vaquita to Safety

Mine-hunting dolphins will help researchers transfer the remaining creatures into marine sanctuaries

The big tree being prepared for its move in Boise, Idaho.

Cool Finds

Watch a 100-foot-tall Giant Sequoia Get Transplanted in Boise

A gift from John Muir, the beloved tree was transferred to a local park by St. Luke’s Medical Center so the facility can expand

The endangered blobfish, once named world's ugliest animal, has leveraged its unusual looks to win the Internet's adoration. Can other less-traditionally appealing creatures do the same?

Future of Conservation

When It Comes to Conservation, Are Ugly Animals a Lost Cause?

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but good marketing can do wonders

The olm, or cave dragon, is the largest cave-adapted animal in Europe. These strange creatures spend their entire lives in caves, and face threats from pollution runoff from agriculture and chemical plants on the surface.

Future of Conservation

Cave Dragons Exist—And Saving Them Could Be Key to Protecting Drinking Water

New DNA techniques are letting researchers track down the largest, strangest cave animals in the world

Small but mighty!

The Little Brown Bat’s Mighty Talent

Accounting for body size, the little brown bat lives longest of any mammal–but no one knows why

Compared with the trees, lianas are able to put more energy into the production of leaves and seeds and less towards growing a trunk.

Tarzan’s Favorite Mode of Travel, the Liana Vine, Chokes Off a Tree’s Ability to Bear Fruit

With lowered fruit production, fewer seeds are dispersed to grow new trees

Marine algae blooms like these in the northern Ross Sea are often vast enough to be visible from space.

Future of Conservation

Who Owns Antarctica’s Pristine Oceans?

How humans finally stopped squabbling and protected one of the world’s most pristine marine areas

A man dives in the Coral Triangle off Ghizo, Solomon Islands, in 2011.

Three Things to Know About the Coral Triangle, the Ocean’s Biodiversity Hot Spot

At more than a billion acres of ocean, the Coral Triangle is one of the world’s biggest and most important marine regions

A female Limosa harlequin frog sports a miniature radio transmitter.

A Pioneering Force of Harlequin Frogs Set Out to Help Save Their Species

Outfitted with tiny transmitters, these frogs are released to face the challenging chytrid fungus that decimated their populations

“These males were still alive and living around the females, they just apparently weren’t getting any of the matings, or the matings weren’t working,” says Robert C. Fleischer.

Future of Conservation

Safer Digs for Tortoises Put a Damper on Their Love Lives

A new genetic study surprised scientists who learned the males were not breeding

Meet the Ozark hellbender, an elusive creature that has become only more so as of late.

Future of Conservation

What the Heck Is a Hellbender—And How Can We Make More of Them?

Why the Saint Louis Zoo decided to invest in this slimy, surprisingly adorable amphibian

Recent research found that fully one third of humanity can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution

Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?

As countries grow richer, light pollution gets worse–but some are fighting to change that

Qinghai Hoh Xil

Cool Finds

Three Incredible Natural Areas Nominated for the World Heritage List

Areas in Tibet, Argentina and West Africa are likely to receive international protection for their rare plants, animals and natural beauty

Future of Conservation

The Hidden Dangers of Road Salt

It clears our roads, but also spells danger for fish, moose—and sometimes humans

DNA barcoding, as the name suggests, was designed to make identifying a species as simple as scanning a supermarket barcode.

Future of Conservation

The Key to Protecting Life on Earth May Be Barcoding It

An easier way to read DNA is helping scientists tease apart species and ecosystems in nuanced ways

Thousands of clay caterpillars, like this one glued to a leaf in Hong Kong, were used to measure how often predators are eating insects around the world.

New Research

Sacrificing Fake Caterpillars in the Name of Science

Ersatz insects are helping ecologists figure out why bugs are more likely to become meals near the equator

Trending Today

Pringles: Snacktime Hero or Recycling Villain?

The UK Recycling Association speaks out against hard-to-recycle products

A giraffe skin disease was first described in the mid-1990s in Uganda and evidence of the disease has been spotted in numerous other countries, including Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Future of Conservation

How a Tiny Worm is Irritating the Most Majestic of Giraffes

They sound horrifying and look worse. A Smithsonian researcher is investigating the cause of these grotesque skin lesions

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