Harbor seals are the most widely distributed type of pinniped, residing along the shorelines of the Northern hemisphere. Seal pups may find themselves stranded on these coastlines, due to being lost from their mother, or not having enough to eat, and lack the necessary survival skills to go back into the wild successfully. Researchers like…

Many crocodilians (crocodiles, alligators, and caimans) in photos almost appear to be smiling wide. But make no mistake here, this Yacare Caiman (Caiman yacare) from Brazil may grow almost as long as 10 feet and probably does not want to be trifled with. The Yacare Caiman has a diet that begins with anything they can…

The black cocoa ant (Dolichoderus thoracicus) is one of Southeast Asia’s most common and widely recognized arboreal ant species. Recently, they have also attracted attention as an invasive species in several Asian countries. What’s particularly interesting about the black cocoa ant is its unique breeding system, which involves multiple queens that aid the formation of…

I typically tell my summer camp kids that damselflies perch with their wings together, but this is an odd damselfly out. What’s its deal? How else can you properly identify a damselfly on the fly?

As they vanish from shelves and their prices skyrocket, everyone has eggs on the brain. But today, let’s talk about the animal that hatches out of them! Chickens are the most abundant domesticated animal on the planet. Every breed of chicken is a descendant of the red junglefowl, a group-living bird found across South and…

How do birds choose a place that will allow them to keep their chicks safe from the time the first egg is laid until the last fledgling flies away? For chickadees, including the Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) that I studied in Pennsylvania, the answer lies in tree trunk cavities which…

Every time I go home to New Jersey for break, I make sure to stop at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. There’s something really nice about visiting the same place season after season and watching the birds, crabs, sand, waves, etc. change; and at BLSP I also get to watch the people shift from large groups…

Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea), like this Mediterranean Mantis* (Iris oratoria), are well-known for their awesome predatory strikes and cannibalistic tendencies. Our subject here is doing neither; based on its pupils, it appears to be simply watching the photographer. But wait—surely insects don’t actually have pupils like us… what are those black dots in its eyes?…

Now that we’ve lured you in with a cute baby turtle, let’s talk about conservation and science! The Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is a native of East Coast marshes and the only turtle in the United States to live in brackish water (a mix of fresh and salt water). They are surprisingly speedy swimmers and…