WEIRD ANIMALS
By Ben Coxworth – – Autonomouse is claimed to be able run for over a year, with little human intervention. (Credit: Andrew Erskine). If you want to study a mouse’s natural behaviour, then perhaps it isn’t best to grab the animal and place …
Forty percent of the world’s insect species could go extinct over the next few decades. By Stuart Reynolds, The Conversation – There are an awful lot of insects. It’s hard to say exactly how many because 80 percent haven’t yet been described by …
When insects go extinct, other species follow. By Brian Resnick @B_resnickbrian@vox.com – “Help.” Brice Nihiser/Barcroft Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images. Insects are the most abundant animals on planet Earth. If you were to put them all together into one creepy-crawly mass, they’d …
Some scientists refuse to accept it. By Peter Hess – Controversial new research shows that a tiny, unsuspecting species of fish can pass a test that’s widely considered the gold standard of intelligence. As far as we can tell, only a few …
Nick Lavars – A new study has found microplastics in the guts of 102 sea turtles. (Credit: lilithlita/Depositphotos). There remains a lot we don’t know about the whereabouts of the all the plastic waste that washes into the ocean each year, but …
By Emma Mills – Two divers encountered a 26ft long deep-sea worm off the coast of Whakaari in New Zealand. The creature is thought to be a Pyrosome, a huge hollow colony made up of thousands of individual organisms. Diver Andrew Buttle, 48, …
By Matthew Robinson, CNN – An endangered Hawaiian monk seal was spotted with an eel lodged up its nostril in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (CNN) Endangered seals are baffling conservationists with an unlikely predicament — getting eels stuck up their noses. The …
Rich Haridy – – The wombat is the only animal in the world to produce square-shaped poop (Credit: wrangel/Depositphotos). Wombat poo has mystified scientists for years. The shy Australian marsupial is unique for being the only animal in the world to produce …
Rich Haridy – – The Golden Couple by Marsel van Oosten, The Netherlands, Grand Title Winner 2018. A male Qinling golden snub-nosed monkey rests briefly on a stone seat. He has been joined by a female from his small group. It’s spring …
By Joanie Budzileni – Around here, in Bandelier National Monument and many other parts of New Mexico, everyone starts noticing tarantulas about this time of year. Autumn is the time when males mature and start out on their quest to find a mate. This exposes …
