Category: Animals
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Pink sea urchins have self-sharpening teeth
Pink sea urchins house five teeth, each supported by a separate jaw in a circular arrangement at the center of their spiked spherical bodies. But researchers at Northwestern have discovered that the teeth of pink sea urchins are specially equipped to self-sharpen themselves. The tooth enamel breaks off regularly to sustain precision, like a knife […]
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The African Dung Beetle navigates Earth using the stars
Not sure what’s more amazing about the African dung beetle, one that it rolls immaculate balls out of other animals’ dung or that it navigates from home to manure piles and back via celestial cues. “These clever insects use the polarized light of the moon to navigate in a straight line,” writes Popular Mechanics. “Their […]
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Attenborough’s fan-throated lizard
Attenborough’s fan-throated lizard (Sitana attenboroughii) is a species of fan-throated lizards endemic to India, primarily found in the state of Tamil Nadu. The males flaunt their colorful dewlaps — loose skin on their necks — to woo potential mates during mating season. The males also flash their fan-structured throats to ward off rivals in their […]
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Extreme close-up of a Wolf Spider
Let’s hope this animal doesn’t upset your sleep tonight. Below is a close-up facial expression of the Wolf Spider (Lycosidae). If you don’t think the energy the creature gives off is weird enough, look more closely at the additional four more little eyes near the mouth. The Wolf Spider has a total of 8 eyes […]
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Draco volans: The flying dragon lizard
Draco Volans are real-life flying lizards from Southeast Asia. These mini flying creatures have developed the ability to glide up to 26 feet, often from one tree to another, over thousands of years. They use their wing-like extensions that form from the skin flaps on their ribs. So, they don’t actually “fly” like the dragons […]
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Say hello to the swimming pigs of the Bahamas
The uninhabited island of Big Major Cay in the Bahamas is populated entirely by swimming pigs. Known as the Swimming Pigs of Exuma, the feral pigs swim freely in the shallow, clear-water ocean and play amongst themselves on the beach. How the pigs got on the island is still a mystery. Some believe that they […]
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The smiling Quokka of Western Australia
The quokka is a marsupial from the smaller islands (Rottnest and Bald Island) off the coast of Western Australia. The animal looks like a baby kangaroo — they even have pouches — and appear to be smiling at all times. After all, they possess a natural and cheerful grin and teddy bear eyes. There’s even […]
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How the Honduran white bat converts large leaves into tents
Some of the most bizarre wildlife exists in the Honduran rainforest. Take the Honduran white fruit bat (Ectophylla alba), for example. The size of a golf ball, these tiny fluffy creatures love to snuggle together in leaf plants like peas in a pod. They are also polygamous; each little colony houses up to six females […]
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All that fur makes the Pallas cat look like an absolute unit
The Pallas cat is a cute little furball. Pallas’s cats are about the same size as domestic cats — they measure up to 26 inches in length and weigh around 10 pounds. But their body hair is twice as long as the hair on its head, so they appear much larger than they are. That […]
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Deadly scorpions invade southern Egypt after freak thunderstorm
If you thought the plagues were over, think again. Thunderstorms in southern Egypt forced hordes of scorpions out of the desert into Aswan, killing 3 and sending more than 500 people to hospitals with stings. Sources say the black scorpions entered everywhere from people’s homes, cars, and buildings to inject them with deadly venom. The […]
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The cassowary is living proof that birds are living dinosaurs
The cassowary is further proof that birds are living dinosaurs. Native to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia, the flightless Cassowary bird can grow up to a whopping 7 feet tall and weigh as much as 120 pounds. It’s the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird. But even more dinosauric are the cassowary’s razor-sharp talons that […]
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Olms, the eyeless baby dragons of Europe
Olms are underwater cave-dwelling salamanders found in Europe. The neatest part about these unique, entirely aquatic amphibians is that they have long bodies, heads, and no eyes, unlike their relatives of axolotls. They also can live up to a century and go a decade without food due to their low metabolism. In Slovenian folklore, the olm […]