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Please Silence Your Sonar
Photo: John C. Bruckman/FlickrScientists often say that whales and dolphins see with their ears, mapping out their vast, dark underwater environment with an exquisite sensitivity to sound. And for many...
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Net Effect
Photo: Bernard Dupont/FlickrThe old and very young, the injured and ill, the weak and weary—these are what natural-selection claims on its daily rounds. The slowest zebra, the most conspicuous mouse,...
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Invasion of the Body Smashers
Invertebrates living on the continental slope and shelf off Antarctica, including these brittlestars, are vulnerable to predators. Photo courtesy Richard B. Aronson and James B. McClintock.Right now,...
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The Point of No Return
Photo: Megan McCormickAnimal extinctions get lots of attention, but a recent study reminds us that many of the earth’s plants are on the brink of oblivion, too—specifically, cacti. That’s right, our...
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Catch of the Day
A freshly caught specimen of Glyphis garricki. Photo: White et al, 2015.Everybody knows that sharks swim the salty expanses of the ocean. But in freshwater, you galeophobics have nothing to fear,...
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The Witch Hunt
Photo: Edward Peters/FlickrSynthetic webs stretched across a doorway. Rubber bats on a string. Wolf howls from a speaker in the window. Did you ever notice how animal-centric Halloween is?Sure, Easter...
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A River Ran Through It
Photo: Ralph Tiner/USFWSRiparian habitatWay up in the mountains of Allegheny National Forest in northern Pennsylvania, you can dip your toe into a creek with no name. In minutes, the molecules of water...
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Man Bites Snake, News at 11
Photo: Otavio Marques (Instituto Butantan) via Wikimedia CommonsGolden lancehead pitviper (Bothrops insularis)Ladies and gentlemen of the American public, I write to inform you that bias in the...
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Give Us Guano or Give Us Death
Photo: USFWS/Ann FroschauerA Mexican free-tailed bat in Texas's Bracken CaveCaves can be pretty bleak places. Things live in them, sure, but nutrients are so scarce that most cave-dwellers top out at...
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Shot in the Dark
Photo: Simon J. TongeFruit bats at a nature reserve in MauritiusOn the island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, the government has just declared open season on 18,000 fruit bats. As you read...
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The Cougar Next Door
Photo: Neal WightA mountain lion wears a radio collar as part of the Teton Cougar Project.Americans don’t hear pumas howling in the night or find them rooting through garbage cans, but tens of...
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Seeing Stars
Photo: World Animal ProtectionIndian star tortoises have a distinctive radiating pattern on their shells, one of their desirable featuresSweaters shrink, jewelry tarnishes, and bacon-of-the-month-club...
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Burnin' Blubber
Photo: USGSPolar bears, snowy owls, seal pups, narwhals—the Arctic has lots of animals that are Pixar cute. No offense to the walrus, but it ain’t one of them.This bellicose behemoth can outweigh a...
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The Christmas Crab Massacre
Photo: budak/FlickrA Christmas Island red crab, Gecarcoidea natalisNamed for the day it was discovered in 1643 and located a few hundred miles south of Indonesia, Christmas Island is home to around 45...
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Forget Bigfoot. We’ve Got El Jefe.
Original photo courtesy USFWS Signs of a mysterious beast are popping up across the American Southwest: a tail captured on a trail-cam, a blur seen in the wilderness. Jaguars, according to legend, are...
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