Imagine a tiny mammal escaping a predator by leaving part of its skin behind. For most mammals, such an injury would be devastating, potentially causing extensive scarring and permanent damage. …
Naked Mole-Rat Without Oxygen: How It Survives 18 Minutes How can a naked mole-rat without oxygen survive for 18 minutes when most mammals cannot? In a remarkable laboratory experiment published …
The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is one of the most unusual living crocodilians. Its extraordinarily long, narrow snout, lined with sharp, interlocking teeth, looks almost impossible beside the broad jaws of …
Deep beneath the rainforest floor, a female tarantula rests inside a sheltered chamber lined with silk. Beside her lies a pale, rounded egg sac containing the next generation. Although these …
A tiny insect resting on a branch can look so much like a thorn that it becomes difficult to recognize as an animal. This remarkable resemblance is known as treehopper …
Deep inside Central America’s tropical rainforests, one tiny mammal has developed an extraordinary way to find shelter. Instead of hiding in dark caves or hollow trees, Honduran white bats transform …
Saffron may be famous as one of the world’s most valuable spices, but you don’t need a commercial field or Mediterranean climate to try producing a small harvest yourself. With …
A tiny sea slug bites into an alga, sucks out its cellular contents and digests much of what it consumes. But some of the algal chloroplasts escape immediate destruction. Instead, …
At first glance, the barreleye fish seems to have a fairly ordinary deep-sea face. Two small dark spots sit above its mouth, looking exactly where eyes ought to be. But …
A click beetle stranded on its back does something extraordinary: instead of pushing against the ground with its legs, it bends its body, stores energy inside its thorax, and releases …