Mammals

You read that right. Fruit bats are instrumental in pollinating hundreds of plants, including the agave, a key ingredient in tequila.

By Mark Mancini

With a little pig snout and the locomotion of a kangaroo, these tiny desert rodents hardly ever drink water and rarely urinate.

By Jesslyn Shields

Humpback whales can be as long as a city bus and weigh as much as two. They love to breach and water slap with their fins and tails, making them a perennial favorite for whale watchers.

By Katie Carman

Tiger deaths and injuries from vehicle collisions are still rare but they're increasing. Conservationists want to use GPS collars to track the tigers and understand how transportation infrastructure affects their biology and ecology.

By Neil Carter

It's a behavior synonymous with gorillas — beating the chest. But why do they do it? Researchers think they've figured out what the purpose is behind that pounding.

By Sharise Cunningham

They look a lot like beavers and the two rodents have a lot in common. But muskrats are their own species with their own signature scent.

By Meg Sparwath

Badgers love to dig — one den, or "sett," in southern England is thought to cover a territory of over a square mile and have up to 100 entrances.

By Jesslyn Shields

Red squirrels have a big attitude, which might have to due with their small size. They have to act big. And they do so with noisy and aggressive behavior.

By Mark Mancini

When threatened, the slow loris licks venom secreted from a gland under its arm. Licked and loaded, the loris is ready to poison an attacker with a bite.

By Patty Rasmussen

There are over 60 species of langur in the world, all of which eat a plant-based diet and most of which burp a lot.

By Wendy Bowman

These chunky little guys aren't dogs at all. They're actually part of the rodent family, and they're shockingly smart.

By Meg Sparwath

The name dik-dik comes from the repetitive 'dik' sound the tiny female dik-dik makes when she feels threatened.

By Patty Rasmussen

Servals have long legs and necks, which allow them to spot prey over the tall grasses of the savanna, but their huge ears give them their best weapon — an acute sense of hearing.

By Mark Mancini

Vampire bats do it and so should we: socially distance when ill, that is. That's what a new study found.

By Francisco Guzman

Sperm whales are one of the largest creatures in the ocean. And they have the biggest brain on the planet. So are they also the smartest? We'll tell you.

By Wendy Bowman

Caracals have really cool ears and can also jump 10 feet in the air from a seated position.

By Jesslyn Shields

Yes, the obvious fur color seems like a dead giveaway, but you can't always judge a bear by the color of its fur.

By Mark Mancini

Are these strong and dependable animals all the same? If so, why the different names? If not, what makes them different?

By Stephanie Vermillion

These wily canines are probably best known because of the phrase "a dingo ate my baby." But come on. Did a dingo really eat a baby? And do they even attack humans?

By Meg Sparwath

Their mamas may be the only ones who can tell them apart, but there are major differences between these cousins, one being the type of water in which they can survive.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

From the four-headed male reproductive organ to hosting the world's largest flea and sporting a body covered in spiny hairs, this cute little creature takes the cake for mammalian weirdness.

By Wendy Bowman

The protection of these strange looking, ancient animals, and creatures like them, may be a key component in helping a planet in climate catastrophe.

By Jesslyn Shields

Pikas are little mammals that, though they may look like rodents, are more closely related to rabbits.

By Jesslyn Shields

This kitten-looking wild cat is known as the 'hummingbird of the cat family' and could almost fit in the palm of your hand, but its diminutive size belies a ferocious personality.

By Wendy Bowman

Aardwolves aren't closely related to either aardvarks or wolves, but these little hyenas resemble both in some ways.

By Jesslyn Shields