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Weird Animals

Few realize that the lovable, cotton-candy-pink amphibian is on the edge of extinction.

Future of Conservation

How to Save the Paradoxical Axolotl

Despite being a common pet and beloved cultural icon, the grinning amphibian is nearly extinct in the wild

The stunning image that opens the Siphonophorae chapter in The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. Each gelatinous siphonophore is actually a group of colonial organisms all living and working together. To grow, they clone themselves—each new minion specialized for a specific function.

Art Meets Science

This 19th-Century Illustrator Found Beauty in the Slimiest of Sea Creatures

A new book chronicles Ernst Haeckel’s life and his gorgeous renderings of wild things—scales, spikes, tentacles and all

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Art Meets Science

Millions of Historic Images Pay Tribute to the Diversity of Life on Earth

Bask in the infinitely strange wonder of our planet with these gorgeous biodiversity galleries

The black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) that sprayed venom into Wandege’s eye.

When Science Means Getting Cobra Venom Spat Into Your Eye

How a reptile mix-up and a fortuitous dose of breastmilk helped researchers tap into biodiversity in Africa’s eastern Congo

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

To find the roots of an unlikely connection, researchers are untangling lemur microbiomes. Here, ring-tailed lemurs feast at Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany.

New Research

What Lemur Guts Can Tell Us About Human Bowel Disease

Similarities between us and the cuddly primates could help us understand the origins of human illnesses—and treat them

Artist’s concept of Halszkaraptor escuilliei, the newly discovered dinosaur that blends characteristics of raptors, penguins, swans, and ducks.

New Research

Newly Discovered Swimming Dinosaur Is Delightfully Bizarre

The cartoonish creature blends characteristics of velociraptors, penguins, swans, and ducks

While highly social and cooperative among themselves, dwarf mongooses take a while to warm up to newcomers.

New Research

For Immigrant Mongooses, It Can Take Time to Earn Society’s Trust

In some species, however, deporting your own family members is the norm

A CT scan of Pseudoliparis swirei

Cool Finds

Meet the Record-Breaking Fish That Lives 26,000 Feet Under the Sea

The creature is a type of snailfish, and has adapted to survive crushing pressures

One of the samples sequenced by the yeti researchers

New Research

Most “Yeti” Evidence Is Actually From Brown Bears

The results dispel the idea of these mythical beasts while providing clues to the ancestry of the elusive Himalayan and Tibetan bears

"Perhaps you'd be interested if I had a sponge?"

New Research

Male Humpback Dolphins Woo Mates By Presenting Sponges as Gifts

They also use “wingmen” and occasionally sport the sponges as hats—but researchers aren’t sure just how much game they really have

Since commercial harvesting of sea cucumbers began in British Columbia, indigenous people have grown more worried about the long-term sustainability of catching them.

Is the Mysterious Sea Cucumber Slipping Out of Our Grasp?

The slimy, tasty enigmas have long been over-harvested. An indigenous community in Canada could be close to finding a sustainable solution

New Research

Noisy Colonies Help Bat Babies Learn Different Dialects

A new study has found that baby bats mimic the vocalizations that surround them

Decennatherium rex

New Research

Four-Horned Giraffe Ancestor Unearthed in Spain

The fossil is an unusually complete individual of an ancient giraffid species

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Why Did Dozens of Octopuses Crawl Onto a Beach in Wales?

Scientists aren’t sure, but recent storms or burgeoning populations might be to blame

An illustration of the raccoon-like Sinosauropteryx, which lived 130 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous.

New Research

This Adorable Bandit-Faced Dinosaur Will Steal Your Heart

Some dinos were small, fluffy and frankly adorable, a new analysis shows

“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

New Research

Shrews Shrink Their Skulls and Brains for the Winter

The tiny animal have some surprising reactions to the changing seasons

Cool Finds

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”

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