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Weird Animals

Your Old Bra Clasps Can Save Injured Turtles

The clasps are glued on either side of a shell fracture, then pulled together with a zip tie to stabilize the injury

The coffinfish can inflate its body volume by up to 30 percent upon inhaling a significant quantity of water

New Research

Coffinfish Can Hold Their Breath for Up to Four Minutes on the Ocean Floor

This evolutionary adaptation may help the deep-sea dwellers conserve energy or defend against predators

Giving lovebugs a whole new meaning.

New Research

A Fungus Causes Cicadas to Mate Like Crazy, Even After Their Butts Fall Off

And now scientists think they know why

Tell that crocodile, if he says he's got beef that I'm a vegetarian and I'm not scared of him.

Cool Finds

Prehistoric Crocodiles Preferred Plants Over Prey

A study of croc teeth show many species during the time of the dinos were herbivores and omnivores, not strict meat eaters

Seaweed, it's what's for dinner.

A Remote Scottish Island Needs Help Protecting Its Seaweed-Eating Sheep

North Ronaldsay is looking to hire a warden to rebuild the dike that has long kept its sheep on the coastline

Yvonne Morones embraces her dog Scamp the Tramp after he wins the World's Ugliest Dog contest.

Meet Scamp the Tramp, the World’s Ugliest Dog

Scamp took home the top prize in an annual competition that seeks to promote dog adoption

Watch First Footage of Giant Squid Filmed in American Waters

The deep-sea footage also marks a rare sighting of a giant squid in its natural habitat

Cool Finds

Listen to the First Known Song of the North Pacific Right Whale

Researchers spent years trying to trace the source of the rhythmic, gunshot pattern to the endangered whale species

Lithoredo abatanica, the rock-eating shipworm.

Cool Finds

These Two Newly Described Worms Have Really Strange, Yet Marvelous Butts

One worm species has eyes on its behind and another eats rock then poops sand

The narwhal-beluga hybrid skull.

New Research

This Bizarre Whale Is a Beluga-Narwhal Hybrid

A new study documents what may be the first-known evidence of breeding between the two species

The hydrogel mimics the epiphragm, a temporary adhesive layer that hardens when dried and softens when rehydrated with water

New Research

Snail-Inspired Super Glue Can Support the Weight of a 200-Pound Human

The adhesive offers both impressive strength and reusability, avoiding the problems posed by strong but irreversible glues and vice versa

The Chinese giant salamander is the world's largest amphibian, weighing upwards of 140 pounds and growing to a length of more than 5.9 feet

Giant Salamander Goo Is Great at Gluing Gashes

Although slightly less durable than other surgical adhesives, a compound derived from the amphibian’s skin secretions performs better overall

Cool Finds

A 10-Mile-Wide Ladybug Swarm Buzzed Over San Diego

At first, meteorologists thought the shadow on the radar was a storm. But this cloud didn’t bring rain

New Research

Nanoscale Structures Give Dragonfish Their Terrible, Invisible Teeth

Crystals in the enamel and an unusual interior structure render the giant teeth invisible, making the fish one of the deep seas’s most fearsome hunters

The almost 3-year-old female offspring (left) and her 12-year-old mother (right)

The National Zoo’s Female Asian Water Dragon Successfully Reproduced Without a Male

This is the first time facultative parthenogenesis has been recorded in both the species and the reptilian Agamidae family

Unlike modern beavers, which use their sharp-edged teeth to chop up trees and build dams, mega-sized ones were unable to alter their environment to fit their needs

Why Did These Human-Sized Beavers Go Extinct During the Last Ice Age?

A new study suggests the giant beavers disappeared after their wetland habitats dried up, depriving the species of its aquatic plant-based diet

The prehistoric school seems to adhere to the laws of attraction and repulsion, with members maintaining enough distance between neighbors without straying too far from the group

Cool Finds

Did This Fossil Freeze a Swimming School of Fish in Time?

The 50-million-year-old slab of limestone suggests that fish have been swimming in unison for far longer than previously realized

New Research

Bonobo Mothers Interfere in Their Sons’ Monkey Business

They find suitable mates for their offspring and chase away intruders once the mating begins, boosting fertility rates

The study's authors outline three possible scenarios for the unusual fossil's formation

Cool Finds

This 100-Million-Year-Old Squid Relative Was Entrapped in Amber

The ancient ammonite was preserved alongside the remains of at least 40 other marine and terrestrial creatures

A new study identifies the remains of two previously mislabeled species: a short-faced bear and wolf-like carnivore

Cool Finds

Divers Find Ice Age Megafauna Remains in Underwater Mexican Cave

The animals include at least seven short-faced bears and one or two wolf-like carnivores

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