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Weird Animals

Researchers equipped the bats with "backpacks" filled with monitoring instruments.

This Chilling Recording Reveals Large Bats Catching, Killing and Eating Birds Midflight

The data answers an enduring question about the greater noctule bat

Two new studies are shedding more light on the behavior and lifespans of naked mole rats.

Scientists Explore the Mysterious Lives and Longevity Superpowers of Naked Mole Rats

The nearly hairless rodents are extremely resistant to cancer—and can live to be 37 years old

A sea lamprey shows off its nightmarish mouth.

This Invasive Vampire Fish Is Helping Researchers Understand the Human Nervous System in Jaw-Dropping Ways

The sea lamprey looks like it’s from another planet, but this ancient creature has a surprising amount in common with humans

A male blue jay on the left, a female green jay on the right and a hybrid offspring of the two species in the center.

Strange Bird Spotted in a Texas Backyard Is the First Known Hybrid Between a Blue Jay and a Green Jay

The ranges of the two parent bird species have expanded due to climate change and now overlap around San Antonio, researchers say

The orca known as “Old Thom” swims in front of researchers in the Bay of Fundy.

The Curious Case of ‘Old Thom,’ an Orca Traveling Alone in the North Atlantic

Sightings of the marine mammal captivate the public and baffle scientists

Scott Adams, director of the Exotic Zoo, holds a casque-headed iguana. Eight hatchlings were produced at the zoo this summer without a father.

‘Once in a Lifetime’: Rare ‘Virgin Birth’ of Eight Iguana Babies Surprises Zookeepers in England

A female casque-headed iguana produced live hatchlings even though she has never shared an enclosure with a male

The bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi) is one of three new deep-sea species described.

Cool Finds

Biologists Discover Surprisingly Cute Deep-Sea Fish Species Off the Coast of California

Meet the bumpy snailfish—described by scientists as “adorable”—as well as the dark snailfish and sleek snailfish, all of which thrive thousands of feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean

Many different types of animals, from birds to orcas, are affected by human noise.

Five Dramatic Ways Animals Respond to Human Noise, From Mimicking Car Alarms While Wooing Mates to Calling Higher Over the Din of Traffic

As human-caused sound gets louder around the world, some animals change their behavior and many creatures suffer health issues

Pygmy seahorses are exceptional camouflage artists.

These Bumpy Little Seahorses Are Amazing Camouflage Artists. Scientists Pinpoint the Gene Loss Behind Their Special Traits

Bargibant’s pygmy seahorses look almost exactly like the gorgonian corals they live in, thanks in part to their unusually stubby snouts

Aside from his bright blue shell, Neptune is an otherwise normal lobster.

See the Rare ‘Electric Blue’ Lobster Found Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Meet Neptune, an American lobster with a vibrantly colored shell that results from a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation

Mexican tetras lost their eyes in multiple ways.

These Cavefish Lost Their Eyes, but They Gained Some Pretty Nifty Traits

Mexican tetras that got swept into pitch-black caverns had no use for the energetically costly organs

Several species have evolved in response to human environmental impacts.

Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker

When people build cities and introduce invasive creatures, resident critter populations sometimes adapt

Four radioactive wasp nests were found at a former nuclear site in South Carolina, according to a government report and statements from officials. The image is not one of these nests; individual wasps were not found, and the wasp species was not disclosed.

Officials Discover Radioactive Wasp Nests at Facility That Once Produced Parts of Nuclear Weapons in South Carolina

A report from the Department of Energy says the finding did not impact other activities and operations

A river otter 

From Playful Otters to Pint-Size Owls, These Eight Awesome Animals Call the Chesapeake Bay Home

Blue crabs, bluebirds, beetles and many more creatures can be spotted in and around the bay—and scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center are paying attention

Researchers discover the secret behind Burmese pythons' ability to fully digest the bones of their prey.

Researchers Discover the Trick That Allows Burmese Pythons to Digest the Bones of Their Prey

Special intestinal cells collect excess minerals into particles the snakes can poop out, according to a new study

A large prawn walks over a field of mineral-rich nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ).

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences

Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

For the first time ever, the genome of a knotty sea spider was sequenced in high resolution.

These ‘Weird’ Sea Spiders Don’t Have Abdomens—and Instead Store Organs in Their Legs. With DNA, Scientists Are Learning Why

Researchers sequenced the knotty sea spider’s genome for the first time, revealing a missing gene that many other animals have

A dark cloud of starlings shapeshifts over Rome.

A Closer Look at the Kestrels, Hedgehogs and Other Wild Animals That Inhabit Rome

From antiquity to modern times, the city has been rife with creatures that creep, slither, scurry and nest among its pillars and palaces

Two killer whales "allokelping" with a kelp stem between them

These Killer Whales Make Tools From Kelp to Massage Each Other in a Newly Discovered Grooming Behavior

Dubbed “allokelping,” it might be a unique cultural phenomenon that’s as endangered as the orca population itself

During mating season in fall, this male hellbender wanders along the bottom of a stream in North Carolina in search of a den site. Hellbenders rely on pristine streams and well-oxygenated flowing water. As they have declined across much of their range, sights like this have become uncommon.

Why Has This North Carolina Town Embraced a Strange Salamander?

The city of Boone has put a giant mural of the eastern hellbender downtown and its residents often imbibe a local Hazy IPA named after the amphibian

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