Tag archives for animals
Posted by On our radar today: 1) A real life Roman ring may have inspired the Lord of the Rings saga, 2) Scientists are able to decode your dreams, 3) Baby lizards can hatch early if they sense danger, and…
On our radar today: 1) A suspected portal to other universes may have closed, 2) Historic weapons reveal two “lost” shark species, 3) Gigantic tarantula discovered, and…
On our radar today: 1) A fish with a transparent body has been discovered in the Amazon, 2) Scientists may have solved the mystery of how spiral galaxies form, 3) The genome patenting debate heats up, and….
On our radar today: 1) A sea lion proves it has got some sweet moves; 2) Dragonflies turn out to be nature’s most adept hunters; 3) Archaeologists find at least 14 Neanderthal specimens in a Greek cave, and…
On our radar today: 1) Cleanup continues on an oil spill in Arkansas, 2) New strain of Bird Flu causes deaths in China, 3) Good news for Sumatran rhinos, and…
On our radar today: 1) NASA’s Curiosity rover snaps a 4-billion-pixel panorama photo, 2) Scientists accidentally discover glowing millipedes on Alcatraz, and…
The top 10 stories on our radar today. Tell @NatGeo what you’re reading with #NatGeoDaily Slug Squirts Boogers at Enemies “Sea hares fool hungry predators with a sticky secretion that deactivates their sense of smell, scientists say.” BBC Animals First Love Child of Human, Neanderthal Found “The skeletal remains of an individual living in northern…
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The Great Lakes are the largest supply of freshwater in the world, and more than 36 million people depend on them for drinking water. As a result, monitoring and maintaining the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem is an urgent priority. Of the diverse organisms inhabiting freshwater systems, fishes are familiar to scientists and laypeople…
Geography in the News: Iditarod, The Race of Arctic Champions
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on March 3, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com THE PULL OF THE IDITAROD, 2013 One of the world’s most grueling races, Alaska’s Iditarod Dog Sled Race, began today, March 3rd. The history and geography of this magnificent race excite followers all over the world as the race is one of the…
By Valarie Chapman We have only studied a small portion of the world’s oceans – leaving us plenty of room for surprises. In one great recent surprise, researchers at Hokkaido University have proven that a species of squid can fly (published in the journal Marine Biology). There were rumors and witnesses of these flying squid,…
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Valentine’s Day inspires silly displays in the name of romance, but heart-shaped candies and sappy cards are nothing compared to the show that nature routinely puts on. From balloon-blowing seals to penis-fencing flatworms, here’s a selection of some of the flashiest—and weirdest—ways that animals show off and compete to win mates.
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A species of sea slug cuts its own penis off after mating and regrows a new reproductive organ within 24 hours, a new study says.
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Eelpouts, rattails, and cusk eels were among the odd haul of species discovered during a recent expedition to the Kermadec Trench.
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See pictures of a rare pygmy chameleon spotted recently in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.
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Scientists have figured out how owls accomplish their Exorcist-style head turning.
Disabled Piglet Has Its Own Set of Wheels
Posted by Guest Blogger on February 1, 2013 By Linda Poon While most people use K’Nex, a children’s toy alternative to Legos, to build large, complex models of rollercoasters and castles, the clever owners of a piglet named Chris P. Bacon, who was born without hind legs, turned their K’Nex pieces into a miniature wheelchair. The wheelchair attaches to a harness worn around…
A Brazilian family recently found their long-lost pet tortoise in a box after 30 years. Find out how the reptile made it through the ordeal.
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Talk about star power—a new study shows that dung beetles navigate via the Milky Way, a first in the animal kingdom.
5 Surprising Facts About Rare Species
Posted by Guest Blogger on January 24, 2013 
By Eric Dinerstein, author of The Kingdom of Rarities What if the organisms that populate the natural world—from whales to weevils—were classified not by their evolutionary relationships but by their relative degree of rarity? Imagine a way of looking at the world where we divide the ark into representatives of two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Common…
Talk about a web of deceit—biologist Phil Torres has found a spider that weaves a bigger decoy “spider” to scare predators.
After a 15-inch-long goldfish was captured recently in Michigan, we wondered: What exactly is a goldfish, and how can they get so freakishly big?
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One spill-echoing artwork, a ceramic wall-mounted sculpture called “Eyak’s Jaw,” was made in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Within a rich bed of intertidal life forms – sea start, kelps, and urchins, a viewer glimpses the jawbone and conical teeth of an orca. The actual jawbone of the male…
Barnacles, already famous for having longest penises in the animal kingdom (relative to size), have another reproductive quirk.
South African Rhino Poaching Hits New High, Group Says
Posted by Dan Stone of National Geographic Magazine on January 11, 2013 
Despite ongoing protection efforts, rhinoceros poaching continues its sharp increase.
In Decline, Caribou Face a Tough Winter in Canada
Posted by Jeff Wells on January 2, 2013 
It was once our largest caribou herd, and one of the biggest herds of large migratory mammals anywhere in the world. The George River caribou of northern Quebec and Labrador were surpassed in numbers perhaps only by Africa’s wildebeest. But now their population is perilously small—about 4 percent of its peak. Although migratory caribou, also…
