The Wallace Line & Biogeography When the age of exploration yielded to a period not simply of unlocking new areas of the globe, but of serious, timely examinations of those areas, the study of Earth’s biology began in earnest. In the middle of the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus noticed patterns in the similarities and differences …
Black Robins In 1976, conservationist Don Merton disembarked from a boat in tempestuous seas and ascended 600 feet up a rock stack known as Little Mangere Island. This spit is a tiny member of the Chatham Islands, which rest 400 miles east of New Zealand’s South Island. Little Mangere covers just 37 acres, a mere blip …
An Entire Species in Two Buckets [The naturalist] looks upon every species of animal and plant now living as the individual letters which go to make one of the volumes of our earth’s history; and, as a few lost letters may make a sentence unintelligible, so the extinction of the numerous forms of life which …
The Frog Romeo This handsome fella is Romeo: Romeo – photo by Matias Careaga His bio features the following info: Height: 0′ 2″ Build: Stocky Status: Never married Children: No Want children?: Definitely Location: Bolivia Smoker?: No way Drinker?: Moderately For fun I like to: Leg days at the gym If you’re part of the …
Mojave Max Many Americans are familiar with Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticating groundhog of Pennsylvania, and a slew of other weather-predicting rodents, including Buckeye Chuck, Wiarton Willie, Dunkirk Dave, and Staten Island Chuck. We rouse these groundhogs from hibernation on February 2 for the purpose of telling us the future of the struggle between winter and spring. …
Flaco, the Owl of Central Park On the night of February 2, workers at the Central Park Zoo, a 6.5-acre facility in the southeast corner of New York City’s famous garden, started the rounds to check on the animals. When they approached the enclosure that housed a Eurasian eagle-owl, named Flaco, they discovered a gaping …
Bear Huggers In addition to the intellectual and spiritual awe that wildlife elicits in the lover of nature, it is undeniable that many of the furry, feathered, and fluffy fauna that share our planet are downright cute. Many humans have a soft spot for critters, especially the baby variety. Puppies and kittens get all the …
The Ghost of the Mountains Let’s begin with a little game. Can you spot the adorable murder machines in the following images? If the pictures are two small to inspect in your browser, click on them to view a full-resolution version. Answers will follow at the end of the article. 3 4 1 1 1 …
Monotreme Mucus Bubbles In Greek mythology, Echidna was half-woman and half-snake. With Typhon, she birthed some of the most famous mythological monsters, including, according to various sources, Cerberus, Hydra, Chimera, the Nemean Lion, Sphinx, and Scylla. When early naturalists encountered one of the planet’s strangest critters, they weren’t sure if it was a mammal or …
The Slow Loris Its life is not a happy one, for it is continually seeing ghosts; that is why it hides its face in its hands. — Daniel Giraud Elliot When it comes to cute and funny animals on the internet, cats and dogs easily rule the charts; occasionally, parrots, rabbits, and otters bubble up. Every so often, …