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 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 …
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 …
Seeing a turtle slowly crossing a road can seem strange, especially when the nearest pond is nowhere in sight. Understanding why turtles cross roads late summer requires looking beyond the …
Why Firefly Season Is Already Fading (And What’s Happening Underground) On warm early-summer evenings, a backyard can seem filled with tiny blinking lights. A few weeks later, the display may …
A small tropical lizard dives beneath the surface of a stream. Instead of immediately swimming back toward air, it settles underwater. Then something unusual appears around its snout: a silvery …
The trash can that went untouched in June suddenly tips over twice in one week. Something empties the bird feeder after dark, grapes disappear from the garden, and the security …