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Weird Animals

The shark fossil is nearly seven feet long, with two 2.5-foot-long fin spines on its back.

New Research

New Mexico’s ‘Godzilla’ Shark Fossil Gets an Official Name

The prehistoric beast’s scientific name is Dracopristis hoffmanorum

The invasive jumping worm will thrash and snap its body when touched.

Highly Invasive Jumping Worms Have Spread to 15 States

The invertebrate depletes topsoil of nutrients and makes it difficult for fungi and plants to grow

The Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator).

New Research

This Ant Can Shrink and Regrow Its Brain

Indian jumping ants shrink their brains when they become their colony’s queen, but they can also grow the brain back if they quit the gig

A bearded dragon moves in for a close-up. The Australian lizards face threats from habitat loss and rising temperatures.

In a Warming World, Heat Interferes With Sex Determination in These Australian Lizards

Scientists have discovered how hot temperatures override chromosomes in bearded dragons

A viral video shows an octopus (not pictured) lashing out at an Australian tourist in shallow water.

A Very Angry Octopus Goes Viral After Lashing Out at an Australian Tourist

A video posted to social media captures the cephalopod’s arm-flinging attack

A study of ten narwhal tusks reveals how the animals are responding to a swiftly changing Arctic.

New Research

Study of Narwhal Tusks Reveals a Swiftly Changing Arctic

Chemical analysis of ten tusks shows shifting diets and increasing levels of mercury as climate change warms the polar region

Grasshoppers swarm a street light a few blocks from the Las Vegas Strip on July 26, 2019.

New Research

Las Vegas Was Inundated by 46 Million Grasshoppers on a Single Night in 2019

A new study says the horde of insects was drawn to the Vegas Strip by its famously bright lights

A newly emerged cicada from Brood X suns itself.

14 Fun Facts About Cicadas

Amazing details about the buzzing insects set to storm the United States this spring

"Active sleep" only lasted 40 seconds but cycled after 30 to 40 minutes of "quiet sleep". These patterns are similar pattern to how mammals experience rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

Like Humans and Mammals, Octopuses May Have Two Stages of Sleep

Scientists do not know if octopuses dream in color, but they do change color while sleeping

The head and the body of the sea slug Elysia marginata, a day after the animal decapitated itself.

New Research

Sea Slug’s Decapitated Head Crawls Around Before Regrowing a Body

Researchers think that lopping off its own noggin could help the critter rid itself of parasites

C. elegans are roundworms that are about one millimeter long and commonly used in scientific experiments as model organisms.

New Research

These Worms Have No Eyes, but They Avoid the Color Blue

When a scientist noticed that blind nematodes avoid bacteria that make blue toxin, he wondered if they took color into account

Photos of the kitefin shark glowing in the dark.

New Research

Nearly Six-Foot-Long Glowing Shark Discovered in Deep Sea Off New Zealand

The kitefin shark is one of three species of glowing sharks described in a new paper

A male superb lyrebird

New Research

This Bird Mimics an Entire Flock to Woo Females

When mating, male lyrebirds reproduce a cacophony of calls usually reserved for when predator is nearby

An Ananteris balzani scorpion couple interlocked in their elaborate mating dance. The male (left) has lost the end of his tail, rendering him unable to defecate.

For Constipated Scorpions, Females Suffer Reproductively. Males, Not So Much.

After the arachnids drop their tails, poop backs up until it kills them, but before that it can affect pregnancy

New research finds that springhares, hopping rodents native to southern Africa, glow under UV light.

New Research

This Bouncing African Mammal Glows Under UV Light

Springhares are the latest in a flurry of furry creatures that scientists have discovered are biofluorescent

The yellow colored king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus was spotted after photographer Yves Adams suddenly saw penguins swimming towards the shore.

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed for the First Time

The Antarctic bird has leucism, meaning its feathers do not contain melanin needed to produce black pigment

Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned black-footed ferret and the first cloned endangered species native to North America, pictured here at 50 days old.

Elizabeth Ann Is the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret

The creature, the first cloned endangered species native to North America, could provide the fragile population with desperately needed genetic diversity

Two wood-feeding cockroaches (Salganea taiwanensis). The one on the left is missing it's wings after the mutual wing-eating behavior. The one on the right has it's wings intact.

These Cockroaches Mate for Life. Their Secret? Mutual Sexual Cannibalism

Both males and females will munch on each other’s wings after sex, a behavior that may encourage lifelong partnership

The broad-tailed hummingbird uses its fiery throat feathers, called a gorget, to attract a mate.

Smithsonian Voices

From Aerial Acrobatics to Sexual Deception, See Eight of Nature’s Wildest Mating Rituals

Some species have developed unusual rituals to show off their prowess as a potential mate

Sea whip coral can come in a variety of colors, from vivid reds and oranges, yellows to rich violets and can grow up to three feet long.

Tangled ‘Cord’ Mistaken for Litter Is Actually a Sea Creature

Along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, beachgoers mistake sea whip coral for discarded junk

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