Category: Creature Feature

Creature Feature: Aye-ayes

Primates are known for their behavioral diversity, but perhaps no primate is as bizarre as the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis). Their black-grizzled fur, combined with bat-like ears, rodent-like incisors, and long middle finger, make them look quite spooky—right on time for Halloween!

Creature Feature: Ethiopian wolf

An elusive creature and the rarest canid in the world, the Ethiopian wolf is commonly referred to as the Simien fox. Despite its foxy nickname, bushy tail, and reddish fur, the Ethiopian wolf is actually a true wolf.

Creature Feature: Grass carp

Grass carp, originally brought to the U.S. as lawnmowers for aquatic plants, can eat up to 100% of their body weight in vegetation every day.

Creature Feature: Hummingbirds

Good things come in small packages! This saying perfectly describes our flying, flower-loving friends, the hummingbirds.

Creature Feature: Pin-tailed whydah

This parasitic bird has moved across the world to the Hollywood hills with dreams of making it big in Los Angeles. But will it succeed, and will it threaten native species?

Creature Feature: The kelp forest—an underwater housing crisis

Let’s take a dip into the dark, chilly waters of northern California, where upwelling supplies nutrients to a forest canopy of slick, bulbous kelp tendrils, tangles of verdant sea grasses, and richly iridescent seaweeds. Kelps are considered “ecosystem engineers” as they provide habitat structure and modulate nutrient dynamics for a diverse host of tenants.

Creature Feature: Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Since Snowball the sulphur-crested cockatoo went viral with his dance moves, plenty of cockatoos and other parrot species have been observed boogieing to their favorite jams. What makes these birds such good dancers? The leading hypothesis is that their innate vocal learning ability has equipped them with the special perceptual and cognitive tools that allow them to feel the rhythm and move to a beat.