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Asperitas clouds form rippling waves in the sky
There are all types of stunning clouds — Lenticular, Mammatas — to name a couple. But the asperitas clouds take center stage. These clouds, which are dark and storm-like, look like Van Gogh painted waves in the sky. Asperitas clouds form in the wake of thunderstorms like Mammatus clouds, yet unlike the latter, asperitas clouds
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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
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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 —
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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
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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
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The Wave in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
The Wave is a sandstone rock formation located in North Coyote Buttes of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on the Arizona and Utah borders. The swirling stone waves combine water and wind-eroded sandstone dunes, calcified vertically and horizontally, and fossilized over 190 million years. The rich red-vermilion rocks get their colors from iron oxide pigments. Only 20
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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
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Walking the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks
The Hopewell Rocks is a series of sandstone pillars along the coast of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. The unique-looking rock formations, cliffs, and coves result from centuries of tidal erosion, yet another reminder of how nature crafts its own beauty. Home to the highest tides in the world The tides at the
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A trip to Portugal’s stunning Benagil Sea Cave
The Benagil Sea Cave, located in a small fishing village 3 hours from Lisbon, is arguably one of the most interesting tourist attractions in the world. Accessible only by boat, the cave contains a peculiar domed ceiling and natural oculus shaped by wave attrition and Miocene limestone built-up over 20 million years ago. Hiding under