Conspiracy theory quiz: Test your knowledge of unfounded beliefs, from flat Earth to lizard people By Lydia Smith published 14 December 24 How much do you know about conspiracy theories? Take our quiz to find out.
Turuchan pika: The adorable ball of fluff that just loves to play By Lydia Smith published 7 December 24 Turuchan pikas play all sorts of games, including swinging from branches, throwing food around and hiding them jumping out at each other.
Shark quiz: How much do you know about these iconic ocean superstars? By Lydia Smith published 22 November 24 Sharks are formidable fish, having survived multiple mass extinction over hundreds of millions of years. But how much do you know about these misunderstood creatures? Take our quiz to find out.
Cantor's giant softshell turtle: The frog-faced predator that spends 95% of its time completely motionless By Lydia Smith published 16 November 24 These leathery turtles spend most of their lives buried motionless in river mud, but burst into action to catch their unsuspecting prey.
Babirusa: The prehistoric 'deer' pigs with huge antler teeth By Lydia Smith published 26 October 24 Babirusas are believed to have diverged from their pig ancestors between 26 million and 12 million years ago after getting isolated on Sulawesi when sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age.
Short-horned lizard: The inflatable 'horny toad' that squirts toxic blood from its eyes By Lydia Smith published 19 October 24 This little lizard can fire blood up to 5 feet from its face, has spiky horns and inflates itself to choke predators.
Siphonophores: The clonal colonies that can grow longer than a blue whale By Lydia Smith published 28 September 24 Siphonophores are unusual animals made up of individual organisms called "zooids," which each have a distinct function — despite being genetically identical.
Angular roughshark: The pig-faced shark that grunts when captured By Lydia Smith published 14 September 24 An angular roughshark pulled from the water near Elba, an Italian island near Tuscany.
Thorny devil: The spike-covered lizard that sucks water from sand through its skin By Lydia Smith published 31 August 24 Thorny devils have a plethora of defenses against predators, including a fake head and a weird jerky walk.
Silky anteater: The tiny, boxing ball of fur By Lydia Smith published 17 August 24 The smallest species of anteater grows to just 14 inches, including its tail — but it packs a hefty punch when threatened.
Pacific geoduck: The large, phallic clam that can live longer than 165 years By Lydia Smith published 3 August 24 The Pacific geoduck is a clam that lives along the shore from Alaska to Mexico, can reach 9 pounds in weight and can outlive humans.
Sun bear: The little carnivores that look so similar to humans they've been mistaken for people wearing costumes By Lydia Smith published 27 July 24 Sun bears often stand upright like humans, and mothers even walk around cradling their babies in their arms.
Panda ant: The wasps whose black and white females have giant stingers and parasitic babies By Lydia Smith published 13 July 24 Panda ants are actually wasps masquerading as an adorable ant, with black and white females possessing stingers half as long as their entire bodies.
Tasselled wobbegong: The master of disguise that can eat a shark almost as big as itself By Lydia Smith published 29 June 24 Tasselled wobbegong sharks are so well camouflaged they can vanish on the seafloor, waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass before lunging forward to suck their victims into their giant mouths.
Jaguarundi: The little wildcat that looks like an otter and has 13 ways of 'talking' By Lydia Smith published 22 June 24 Jaguarundis are weird little felines that are about the size of domestic cats, have long bodies with short legs and round, flattened heads.
Qinling panda: The shrunken pandas that diverged 300,000 years ago and sometimes come out brown By Lydia Smith published 15 June 24 Qinling pandas were officially recognized as a subspecies in 2005, but the mystery of their brown fur was only resolved almost two decades later.
Is hippo milk really pink? By Lydia Smith published 10 May 24 Hippos don't produce pink milk, but they do produce a pink, sweat-like secretion.
Watch bizarre video of termites trapped in 'death spiral' By Lydia Smith published 19 March 24 Footage shows termites trapped inside a fungus in a death spiral, where they march until they die from exhaustion.
Prairie vole orgasms 'rewire' their brains for long-term love By Lydia Smith published 5 March 24 Researchers discover ejaculation in male prairie voles triggers a cascade of neural activity in both sexes that helps them form strong bonds and monogamous relationships.
East Coast cities are sinking at a shocking rate, NASA images show By Lydia Smith published 1 March 24 Satellite images reveal the rate that cities along the U.S. East Coast, including New York, Baltimore and Charleston, are sinking into the ground.
Bizarre jellyfish with bright red cross for a stomach discovered in volcanic caldera off Japan By Lydia Smith published 13 February 24 Newly described species of jellyfish with a red cross inside its translucent body is only found in the Sumisu caldera over 2,500 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
French bulldog puppy spontaneously regrows jaw after surgery in 1st known case of its kind By Lydia Smith published 7 February 24 Cornell veterinarians discovered a puppy whose jaw they had surgically removed because of a cancerous tumor had regrown it just eight weeks after the operation.
How fast can piranhas eat a dog? By Lydia Smith published 31 January 24 Piranhas have razor-sharp teeth and often travel in shoals, but can they really strip prey of its flesh in a matter of minutes?
A perfect storm of factors is causing major East Coast cities to sink. What are they, and can we do anything about it? By Lydia Smith published 30 January 24 Cities along the Atlantic coast — including New York, Boston, and Miami — are sinking into the ground.
Huge, complete mammoth tusk accidentally discovered by North Dakota coal miners By Lydia Smith published 9 January 24 A tusk scooped up my miners in North Dakota turned out to be one of the most complete skeletons of a mammoth ever discovered in the state.
