-
Shark quiz: How much do you know about these iconic ocean superstars?Quiz 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 science quiz to find out.
By Lydia Smith Published
Quiz -
Cantor's giant softshell turtle: The frog-faced predator that spends 95% of its time completely motionlessThese leathery turtles spend most of their lives buried motionless in river mud, but burst into action to catch their unsuspecting prey.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Babirusa: The prehistoric 'deer' pigs with huge antler teethBabirusas 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.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Short-horned lizard: The inflatable 'horny toad' that squirts toxic blood from its eyesThis little lizard can fire blood up to 5 feet from its face, has spiky horns and inflates itself to choke predators.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Siphonophores: The clonal colonies that can grow longer than a blue whaleSiphonophores are unusual animals made up of individual organisms called "zooids," which each have a distinct function — despite being genetically identical.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Angular roughshark: The pig-faced shark that grunts when capturedAn angular roughshark pulled from the water near Elba, an Italian island near Tuscany.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Thorny devil: The spike-covered lizard that sucks water from sand through its skinThorny devils have a plethora of defenses against predators, including a fake head and a weird jerky walk.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Silky anteater: The tiny, boxing ball of furThe smallest species of anteater grows to just 14 inches, including its tail — but it packs a hefty punch when threatened.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Pacific geoduck: The large, phallic clam that can live longer than 165 yearsThe Pacific geoduck is a clam that lives along the shore from Alaska to Mexico, can reach 9 pounds in weight and can outlive humans.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Sun bear: The little carnivores that look so similar to humans they've been mistaken for people wearing costumesSun bears often stand upright like humans, and mothers even walk around cradling their babies in their arms.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Panda ant: The wasps whose black and white females have giant stingers and parasitic babiesPanda ants are actually wasps masquerading as an adorable ant, with black and white females possessing stingers half as long as their entire bodies.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Tasselled wobbegong: The master of disguise that can eat a shark almost as big as itselfTasselled 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.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Jaguarundi: The little wildcat that looks like an otter and has 13 ways of 'talking'Jaguarundis are weird little felines that are about the size of domestic cats, have long bodies with short legs and round, flattened heads.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Qinling panda: The shrunken pandas that diverged 300,000 years ago and sometimes come out brownQinling pandas were officially recognized as a subspecies in 2005, but the mystery of their brown fur was only resolved almost two decades later.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Is hippo milk really pink?Hippos don't produce pink milk, but they do produce a pink, sweat-like secretion.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Watch bizarre video of termites trapped in 'death spiral'Footage shows termites trapped inside a fungus in a death spiral, where they march until they die from exhaustion.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Prairie vole orgasms 'rewire' their brains for long-term loveResearchers discover ejaculation in male prairie voles triggers a cascade of neural activity in both sexes that helps them form strong bonds and monogamous relationships.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
East Coast cities are sinking at a shocking rate, NASA images showSatellite images reveal the rate that cities along the U.S. East Coast, including New York, Baltimore and Charleston, are sinking into the ground.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Bizarre jellyfish with bright red cross for a stomach discovered in volcanic caldera off JapanNewly 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.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
French bulldog puppy spontaneously regrows jaw after surgery in 1st known case of its kindCornell veterinarians discovered a puppy whose jaw they had surgically removed because of a cancerous tumor had regrown it just eight weeks after the operation.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
How fast can piranhas eat a dog?Piranhas have razor-sharp teeth and often travel in shoals, but can they really strip prey of its flesh in a matter of minutes?
By Lydia Smith Published
-
A perfect storm of factors is causing major East Coast cities to sink. What are they, and can we do anything about it?Cities along the Atlantic coast — including New York, Boston, and Miami — are sinking into the ground.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Huge, complete mammoth tusk accidentally discovered by North Dakota coal minersA 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.
By Lydia Smith Published
-
Pinky-white leucistic alligator with blue eyes born in Florida is 1 of only 8 in the worldAn extremely rare leucistic alligator born in Gatorland, Orlando, is the result of a genetic condition that leads to the partial loss of skin pigmentation, resulting in white or translucent skin.
By Lydia Smith Published

