Animals — Page 4

Scientists filmed a live goblin shark at nearly 700 metres deep in the Pacific.

In 2025, rare footage showed a goblin shark swimming freely at about 700 metres in the central Pacific, near Jarvis…

A tiny blue octopus the size of a golf ball was discovered at 1,800 metres deep in the Galapagos.

The animal, found during a deep-sea expedition, has an intense blue colour and a shape that surprised scientists. The…

The total weight of all ants on Earth exceeds that of all wild mammals and birds combined.

A 2022 study from the University of Hong Kong estimated there are about 20 quadrillion ants on the planet, with a…

Horseshoe crab blood is blue because it contains copper instead of iron.

The horseshoe crab uses hemocyanin, a copper-based protein, to transport oxygen. Unlike human hemoglobin, which…

The deep-sea fish Macropinna microstoma has a transparent head and barrel-shaped eyes.

This Pacific species has a transparent fluid-filled dome on its head, through which its green, tubular eyes are…

A new species of archaea was discovered living in fumaroles at nearly 100 degrees Celsius in Antarctica.

Brazilian researchers found the archaea on Deception Island, an active volcano where fumarole water reaches…

A species of cicada builds clay towers mixed with urine.

The cicada Guyalna chlorogena, from the Amazon, builds small towers of clay mixed with urine when emerging from the…

Wild chimpanzees were filmed using plants as medicine to treat wounds.

In 2025, researchers filmed wild chimpanzees in Uganda applying crushed insects and plants to open wounds. The…

A new species of lanternshark has been discovered off Western Australia.

CSIRO researchers described the West Australian lanternshark, a small bioluminescent species that lives at depths…

Two new species of freshwater crayfish have been discovered in Brazil.

Brazilian researchers discovered two new species of freshwater crayfish in the towns of Igrejinha and Bom Princípio…

The nerves of the clitoris have been mapped in 3D for the first time.

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam used X-ray imaging to create a three-dimensional map of the clitoral…

The parrotfish sleeps inside a mucus cocoon that it produces every night.

Before sleeping, the parrotfish secretes a transparent mucus envelope from glands in its skin. The cocoon protects it…

There are ants that explode to defend the colony.

The ant Colobopsis explodens, discovered in Southeast Asia, has glands full of a toxic substance. When threatened, it…

The mimic octopus can imitate more than 15 different animals, including the lionfish and the sea snake.

The mimic octopus, which lives in shallow waters of Southeast Asia, changes colour, shape and behaviour to imitate…

The emperor penguin can dive more than 500 metres and stay submerged for more than 20 minutes.

The emperor penguin is the bird that dives deepest and for the longest time. It can reduce its heart rate and store…

The dumbo octopus incubates its eggs for about four and a half years.

In 2005, MBARI researchers observed a dumbo octopus guarding its eggs on a rocky wall off California. The female…

The leatherback turtle keeps its body warmer than the water it swims in.

The leatherback turtle, the largest turtle in the world, has a layer of fat and a muscular system that generates…

Some crows store tools to use them again later.

New Caledonian crows hide the tools they make, such as sticks for extracting insects from logs, and come back for…

The vulture's stomach produces an acid so strong that it can digest bones.

The pH of a vulture's stomach reaches values close to zero, more acidic than a car battery. This environment destroys…

The cuttlefish can change colour despite being colourblind.

The cuttlefish has only one type of colour receptor cell in its eyes, making it colourblind. Even so, it can mimic…

The blue whale's heart is the size of a small car.

The blue whale's heart can weigh about 180 kilograms and be the size of a small car. The aorta, the main blood…

The hummingbird is the only bird capable of flying backwards.

The hummingbird has a unique wing structure that allows it to rotate its wing at an angle that generates lift both…

Bees communicate the location of flowers through a dance.

When a bee finds a food source, it returns to the hive and performs a figure-eight dance. The angle of the dance…

Some turtles can breathe underwater through their anus.

The leatherback turtle and other aquatic species have sacs in the cloaca that absorb oxygen from the water. This…