Weird Animals

Geckos Can Control the Movement of Their Toe Hairs

Geckos take advantage of van der Waals forces to run across ceilings, but a simple shift allows them to drop to the ground

David Graham, rear, with John Tee-Van, front, with one of the young pandas.

How an American Missionary Helped Capture the First Panda Given to the U.S.

"Missionaries sometimes have to tackle strange and unusual jobs," David Graham wrote.

An artist's interpretation of what Hallucigenia sparsa looked like.

This Weird, 500 Million-Year-Old Spiky Worm With Legs Actually Has a Descendant

Modern-day velvet worms' jaws are repurposed former claws

How to Charm Worms Out of the Ground

The art of worm grunting

Crawfish Can Convert Blood Cells into Neurons

This neat invertebrate trick could help researchers eventually figure out how to do the same for human cells

A similar species of Irukandji jellyfish, but with the tentacles (and a fishy lunch inside).

A New, Potentially Deadly Species of Jellyfish Was Discovered Floating Around Australia

The new species' sting can cause Irukandji syndrome, which sometimes leads to stroke and heart failure

A European eel (not the world's oldest, however).

RIP, World’s Oldest Eel

The eel, 155, passed away in a Swedish well late last week

Grayson the fish teased viewers earlier this morning by nearly going down the stairs.

Who's Better at Pokémon, Anarchist Twitch Players or a Betta Fish?

Anarchy seems to be more effective than a fish, so far

Lady Worms, Beware: Pick the Wrong Mate, End Up Dead

Sperm from the wrong species of worm will eat through a female worm's innards

This Deep-Sea Octopus Tended Her Eggs For More Than Four Years

It appears that the octopus mom also largely refrained from eating over those 53 months

In Microgravity, Some Snakes Tie Themselves in Knots, Others Attack Themselves

Some animals just don't know how to deal when gravity goes away

People Really Need to Stop Bringing Giant African Land Snails Into the US

Sixty-seven baseball-sized giant African land snails were confiscated at the Los Angeles International Airport

Is this the face of a cold-blooded man-eater?

14 Fun Facts About Piranhas

They're not cute and cuddly, but they may be misunderstood, and scientists are rewriting the fish’s fearsome stereotype

A group of Chilean devil rays basking in shallow waters around an underwater mountain near the Azores.

Chilean Devil Rays Found to Be Among the Deepest-Diving Animals in the Ocean

The surface-dwelling marine creatures regularly dive more than one mile deep, scientists find

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Cuckoos Don't Sneak Into Other Birds' Nests—They Barge Right In

Cuckoos don't just make other bird's raise their young, they lay their eggs while the other bird is in the nest

Hippos swim in an artificial lake in a farm in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia, December 21, 2006.

Blame Drug Lord Pablo Escobar for Colombia's Hippopotamus Problem

Pablo Escobar had hippos in his private zoo, since the 1990s those hippos have been roaming free

A serval kitten.

Ten Amazing Small Wild Cats

Forget the lions and tigers, these prowling felines have much more to tell us about the natural world

A fishing spider enjoying a tasty platyfish that it snatched from a garden pond in Australia.

Spiders All Over the World Have a Taste for Fish

Eight-legged predators probably prey on vertebrates much more often than arachnologists previously assumed

A Japanese sea catfish, enjoying the light.

This Catfish's Whiskers Are Like Ultra-Sensitive pH Strips

Japanese sea catfish seek out worms in the pitch dark by detecting minute changes in water chemistry caused by their prey’s breathing

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You Otter Believe These Zoo Animals Can Play the Piano, the Harmonica and the Xylophone

D.C.'s hottest summer concert is brought to us by an unlikely source: a bevy of animal musicians

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