Category: Animals
-
The satanic leaf-tailed gecko wears nature in disguise
The satanic leaf-tailed gecko (uroplatus phantasticusis) wears many disguises. It has superior camouflage — special skin that evolved to look like plants — and can also scare away predators by opening its bright red mouth and hiss like a cat. These geckos can even shed their tail to deceive predators and lick their corneas to…
-
The Patagonian mara is a strange and speedy rodent
The Patagonian mara of Argentina may be one of the most appealing animals on the planet. The world’s fourth largest rodent looks like a mashup of a small deer with the long ears and short tail of a rabbit. Along with being a large rodent — they can grow up to 2.5 feet long —…
-
All that fur makes the Pallas’s cat look like an absolute unit
The Pallas’s 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 their head, so they appear much larger than they are. The fluffiest cats…
-
The ghost of the rainforest: inside the hidden life of the Agami Heron
Hidden in the dense, waterlogged forests of Central and South America, the Agami Heron is a bird that even experienced ornithologists may never see in the wild. Known to many as the “ghost of the rainforest,” it slips along shadowy creeks and under mangrove canopies, more often heard than spotted. For those who do encounter…
-
The bone-crushing bearded vulture
The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is the only known animal that lives on an 80-90% diet of bones. That’s right — this intimidating-looking bird specializes in feeding on bone marrow. The Bearded Vulture is a bone eater and bone crusher This bird of prey is so desperate for bone that it’ll fly a dead carcass as high…
-
Where do Attenborough fan-throated lizards live?
Attenborough’s fan-throated lizard (Sitana attenboroughii) is a species of fan-throated lizard that lives in southwestern India, initially discovered in the coastal state of Kerala. A team of Indian researchers uncovered the striking lizard in open ground patches in 2018, subsequently publishing their findings in January 2018’s issue of Zootaxa. They named the lizard after natural…
-
The cassowary is living proof that birds are living dinosaurs
The cassowary, a modern echo of its dinosaur ancestors, casts a mystical aura through its territory. 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. Its deep and resonant…
-
Say hello to the Vampire Crab
Here’s an animal made for Halloween: say hello to the Vampire Crab. The recently discovered species of the genus Geosesarma dennerle is a tiny, semi-terrestrial crab that resides on the Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. They get their name from their fang-shaped mouthparts, spooky eyes, and pinchy claws. The super-colorful purple vampire crabs are native to…
-
Gorgeous eyelashes of the Secretary bird
The Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is your new favorite bird. Endemic to Africa and the national bird of Sudan, the Secretary bird looks like a combination of an eagle and a crane. Its snake-stomping legs can deliver up to 43 pounds of force. The raptor is also known for its speed, earning the nickname “devil’s…