It’s easy to see how the Santa Cruz Black Salamander (Aneides niger) got its name. Have you ever seen a creature with such abyssal coloration? These pieces of living obsidian are endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains along the coast of central California. Despite the high amount of human development in this small mountain range,…

The purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) is a conspicuous native of rocky intertidal habitats along the western coast of North America. These spiky animals live in rock pits, which are safe havens from the pounding surf and scorching sun. Unlike their hermit crab neighbors, purple sea urchins build their homes themselves by boring holes into…

Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) are large, widespread raptors which largely hunt at night. They can begin nesting as early as the winter season, and they often make use of old nests made by other large birds when they do. Photo and caption by Cassidy Cooper Edited by Jessica Schaefer

These tiny fish, only a few days old, are newly hatched salmon. They still have their yolk sacs (bright orange in this photo) and are called “alevins.”

Did you know that different species of mosquito have different tastes in blood? The species pictured above, Culex tarsalis, is native to California and prefers to bite birds, though it will also bite humans and can potentially spread West Nile Virus. In contrast, the invasive species Aedes aegypti is considered an urban mosquito and prefers…

Biologist Nicole Lindenauer developed an automated two-stage pen to gently release Greater Sage-Grouse families into the wild, which will help aid a struggling population’s genetic diversity.