Weird Animals

“And bats with baby faces in the violet light / Whistled, and beat their wings”—T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

How a Deadly Flesh-Eating Fungus Helped Make Bats Cute Again

A silver lining to the worldwide epidemic of white nose syndrome: People like bats more now

Shrews Shrink Their Skulls and Brains for the Winter

The tiny animal have some surprising reactions to the changing seasons

Surprising Footage Captures Arctic Jellyfish Lurking Under the Ice

The creatures were previously thought not tough enough to survive the harsh winters

Lugworm "casts" on a beach.

Scientists Need Your Help Peeping on the Lugworm’s Weird Mating Habits

UK scientists are recruiting volunteers to look for the critters’ “sperm pools”

A harmless toilet plunger really takes the snap out of a snapping turtle.

The Musk Turtle Beer Koozie and Other Household Items We Use for Science

When the going gets tough, creative researchers turn to plastic lizard protectors, monkey loofahs and deer vagina trackers

Stunning Video Captures Humpback Whales Catching Fish With Nets of Bubbles

It's a complicated but ingenious way to catch a meal

Explore the Secret Lives of Animals With These Marvelous Maps

A new book considers how sophisticated tracking technology and the data it collects can improve conservation strategies

A horsehair worm seen in its adult state, in which it lives only to breed

This Jumble of Writhing Sticks Is Actually a Bizarre Parasite

Observed flailing around in Taiwan, this so-called 'alien' turns out to be a horsehair worm

Oxpeckers hang out with large ungulates–animals with hoofs like rhinos, giraffes and water buffalo.

Those Little Birds On The Backs Of Rhinos Actually Drink Blood

You think that’s ticks they’re eating?

"Endangered, you say?"

Five Fascinating Facts About the Amazing Cassowary

They may look pretty scary, but they’re actually pretty cool

Two tree frogs share an intimate moment. The eye-popping yellow of the male only emerges in mating season.

The Color-Changing Marvel of Tree Frogs Looking for Love

A new study sheds light on the wild world of "dynamically dichromatic" amphibians

White giraffes found in Kenya

Two Rare White Giraffes Filmed in Kenya

The leucistic mother and baby were filmed by local rangers in August

A friendly Nauga.

How the Nauga and its Fictional Friends Helped Make Synthetic Fabric Cuddly

What started out as an advertising ploy turned into a low-key cultural phenomenon

Taxonomic vandalism can have disastrous consequences for wildlife conservation—but it could also impact human health. Shown here, an African spitting cobra poised to strike.

A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy

Naming species forms the foundation of biology—but these rogue researchers are exposing the flaws in the system

It's a blob! It's a brain! It's a bryozoan!

Brain-like Blob Found in Canadian Pond

The rarely seen creature, which is a type of bryozoan, is comprised of thousands of tiny organisms

Scientists can study stress in these petite primates with simply a few strands of their hair.

Stress Is Killing These Teeny Lemurs, and The Story Is In Their Hair

Sampling the fur of Madagascar’s gray mouse lemurs reveal a bevy of environmental pressures

Male wolf spiders may have eight eyes, but they still can't tell whether the female they're mating with is dead or alive.

Whoa: Polygamous Wolf Spiders Have a Natural Form of Birth Control

Females have figured out how to get rid of unwanted sperm, allowing them to reap the benefits of multiple mates

Brilliantly White Moose Photographed in Sweden

It took a local politician three years to finally capture a video of the elusive ghostly creature

This bubble eye goldfish may or may not be drunk.

How Do Goldfish Survive Winter? They Make Alcohol

A mutant enzyme allows goldfish and carp to live in low oxygen ponds by turning toxic lactic acid into ethanol

A close-up of a camel spider's multifaceted mouthparts, taken in Namibia's Namib Desert.

Camel Spiders Are Fast, Furious and Horrifically Fascinating

Yet another mystery about these arachnids: Why are they so intent on mass-murdering ants?

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