These elusive critters look like something straight out of a horror movie. They are members of the order Amblypygi and within the arachnid family, which includes spiders1. In contrast to the whip scorpions or vinegarroons (Uropygi)—another order of arachnids—these creatures lack the tails that lend them the partial title of “scorpion”. Though they have the…

It all begins with an innocent evening dip. A woman runs down the beach, stripping off her outer garments and diving into the cold, dark water of the Atlantic Ocean. Her identity is barely relevant, because just days later, remnants of her corpse are washed ashore – she is just another victim of the leviathan…

The pangolin is an incredibly fascinating animal that you might not have ever heard of. Classified in the order Pholidota and most closely related to the Carnivora, these mammals are found in Asia and Africa, although they are extremely threatened across their range. Pangolins hold a depressing world record: they account for 20% of sales…

A roving hoard marches across the forest floor, millions strong, crushing their prey between powerful, pincer-like mandibles. It’s a raid, and with millions of bodies to feed this swarm moves with startling efficiency. Thousands of the raid’s victims will likely be dead by day’s end. These are the army ants, one of Earth’s most aggressive…

California has long been known as the ‘golden state’. This could be attributed to its golden sunshine, the golden hills that the summer brings, or the gold flakes that line its streams. Thus it is only fitting that the official state fish is the California Golden Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita). It is one of three…

The diademed sifaka (Propithecus diadema) is potentially the world’s most colorful lemur species. You’d think that would make them easy to find in the green rainforests of eastern Madagascar, especially since they are the second largest living lemur, but they can camouflage surprisingly well in the shadows. You may wonder why sifaka (pronounced she-FAK) are…

If you ever visit the dense jungles of South and Central America, you may be lucky enough to encounter an elusive titi monkey (Callicebus spp.). Titi monkeys are small-bodied, monogamous New World primates that mate for life1. There are over thirty species of titi monkeys, but all share some unique characteristics. For instance, they have…

Imagine a little songbird, with black feathers encircling its eyes, a sleek gray body, whistling a high-pitched tweet toot-toot. The kind of bird that on first glance, you might mistake for a miniature mockingbird. “Aww,” you might think, “what a darling tweety bird!” Well, you’d be mistaken. Much like the “killer rabbit” of Monty Python fame,…

Inhabiting a broad swath of arid savanna woodlands just north of equatorial Africa lives one of the most remarkable monkeys that you have likely never heard of. The patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) survives in these difficult places with the help of several unique adaptations that allow it to carve out a living in ways unlike most other…

Steamer ducks, consisting of four species of waterfowl, are pretty odd animals. They are unusual for ducks in several ways, including the fact that they weigh many times more than most ducks and are largely incapable of flight,  with the only species capable of flight being the appropriately named “flying steamer duck” (Tachyeres patachonicus). Unlike…