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The Pink Empusa Mantis isn’t the kind of insect you overlook. Native to North Africa, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean, it stands out for its strange mix of beauty and menace. Its delicate coloring and angular body give it an otherworldly look that feels almost misplaced in nature. Some versions take on a pale pink that helps it disappear among flower shoots and new growth. Its long lim

The incredible scene—captured by filmmaker and host of National Geographic’s Animals Up Close, Bertie Gregory—offers a window into the emotional lives of whales. In January 2022 off Adelaide Island, Antarctica, the snow was falling so thick and quietly, it felt like traveling through hyperspace. “Silence is noisy, so that was super spooky,” says Bertie Gregory, a National Geographi

Pallas's cat is a small wild cat native to Central Asia with short legs and dense fur, making it look bigger than it really is — but the yelps it makes in stressful situations betray its size. Pallas's cats are very grumpy-looking wild cats. (Image credit: xtrekx/Getty Images) Pallas's cat, also known as a manul, is a feline from Central Asia that yelps like a small do

Twice a Year, Reindeer Eyes Pull Off a Wonderful Magic Trick The Arctic can stay perpetually dark for months. Reindeer cope by changing part of their eyes from gold to blue. Of all the eyeballs in Glen Jeffery’s office, only a very small minority are his. “Oh, I’ve got an office full of eyes,” Jeffery, a neuroscientist at University College London, told me. Over Skype, he fi

After plans stalled for a new dam in the Czech Republic, eight beavers saved the day seemingly overnight. “At this point, nothing that beavers do surprises me.” A beaver sits on the banks of the Elbe, a major river of Central Europe that flows from the Czech Republic through Germany to the North Sea. Beavers are famous for their abilities as ecosystem engineers, or animals that modify

The quokka, an impossibly-cute marsupial that's taken social media by storm, is facing unexpected threats in its southwestern Australia home. (Credit: Martin Pelanek/Shutterstock) The quokka, an adorable marsupial hailing from southwestern Australia, is bound to put a smile on anyone’s face. They’re small and fuzzy, and the distinctive shape of their mouth gives quokkas the appeara

Watch: Atlantic Ocean's largest recorded great white male shark gets tagged for tracking Video from OCEARCH shows Contender, a massive adult great white shark, being tagged off the Florida/Georgia coast in January 2025. Contender is the largest recorded great white male shark in the Atlantic. CAPE HATTERAS, N.C. – The biggest adult, male great white shark to ever be recorded in the Atlanti

Could seeing the luminescent twinkle of fireflies on summer evenings soon be a thing of the past? Recent claims circulating on social media say that we may be the last generation to have grown up with fireflies. But how true is that?  A 2024 study in Science of The Total Environment compiled 24,000 North American surveys from Firefly Watch, a citizen scienc

Anting 🐜 is a behavior exhibited by some birds in which they allow ants 🐜 to crawl on their feathers and skin, or they actively apply ants, other insects, or substances ants secrete, to their feathers. They do this as part of their preening, or self-care, routine. Anting is a curious behavior exhibited by a surprisingly wide range of birds – over 200 species across the gl

It’s safe to say that anyone who has seen a woodpecker in action has probably been surprised by the strength and speed with which they attack a tree’s wood. In fact, the most common way to find a woodpecker is by following the sound of its pecking until you can spot it amongst the trees. It is safe to say that anybody who has seen a woodpecker in action has been amazed at the strength and s