Animals

High-resolution video of tiny, bizarre silk structures found across the Amazon known as a silkhenge show the mysterious spider construction as never before.

Scientists sank three alligator corpses into the Gulf of Mexico to see whether bottom-dwelling sea creatures could eat them. They did — handily.

The turbulent lower Congo River, home to hundreds of fish species, is not only Earth's deepest river; it also presents biologists with an intriguing window into evolution.

The flashy abdomens of male peacock spiders may serve a very important purpose.

Strandings of healthy gray whales increase with the prevalence of solar storms.

Fossils discovered in Nevada contain preserved guts from a mysterious creature that lived 550 million years ago.

Baby pandas. Enough said.

The Chinese paddlefish, which could grow up to 23 feet long, may be the first official extinction of 2020.

Elephants' trunks are even longer than they seem.

A man caught a spider eating his goldfish in midair. This is creepily common among semiaquatic spiders, which live across the globe.

Two 6-foot-tall dinosaurs, nicknamed "Jane" and "Petey," have been confirmed as Tyrannosaurus rex teenagers with years of growth ahead of them, and not a pygmy dinosaur species as some had argued.

From raccoons in sewer grates to hedgehogs in cups, this was a sticky year for some unlucky animals.

The animal kingdom is full of cannibals, zombies and party animals.

When scientists find a round, lumpy object they can't totally explain, they call it a "blob." Here are our nine favorite blobs of 2019.

From cannibal ants to reindeer 'cyclones' to solar tsunamis, 2019 was a metal year for nature. Here are our 10 favorite moments.

The leading theory just fell apart.

New evidence of preserved brain tissue from the Cambrian period counters arguments that nervous tissue cannot be fossilized.