For decades, wildlife books have introduced the sailfish as the fastest swimmer in the sea, often attaching an astonishing figure of about 68 miles per hour to the claim. Modern …
A flock of great white pelicans moving across a shallow lake can suddenly become something more organized than a gathering of hungry birds. Individuals align in a line, arc, or …
Across the open landscapes of western North America, the pronghorn can accelerate into a run that seems excessive for the predators pursuing it today. That mismatch has inspired one of …
Few mammals look as immediately adapted to their environment as the fennec fox. Its compact body, pale coat, furry feet, and especially its enormous ears all reflect life in the …
High in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia lives a mammal that appears to turn almost its entire body into a wing. The remarkable colugo gliding membrane stretches from the …
Spiders have colonized forests, deserts, caves, gardens, and even the edges of freshwater ponds, but one species has taken aquatic life much further. The diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) spends …
A bright red or orange insect covered in dense, velvety hair runs across a lawn. It has no visible wings, moves like an oversized ant, and looks almost inviting to …
A tiny crater in dry, loose soil can look like nothing more than the mark left by a falling raindrop. But beneath some of these perfectly shaped funnels waits one …
Inside a humid tropical cave, the ceiling can be as biologically active as the floor. Bats cluster against limestone surfaces, arthropods move through cracks and crevices, and predators exploit opportunities …
A Black Skimmer glides just above quiet coastal water, its long wings carrying its body only centimeters above the surface. The bird appears almost to be tracing a line across …