Wild Animals

As fans of George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series know all too well, a person encountering a dire wolf will likely end up in dire straits. But while these fearsome beasts make for great fiction, do they have any grounding in reality?

By Kate Kershner

Mating shouldn't be something you lose your head over, but tell that to the male praying mantis. This poor creature has long been the butt of countless procreation jokes, but does he even deserve this unfortunate reputation?

By Kate Kershner

You're not likely to ever get in a straight-up boxing match with another animal (kangaroos with boxing gloves aside). That said, it's probably a good idea to know whether a few efficient jabs to the schnoz can help you escape an irate animal.

By Kate Kershner

Ah, the duckbill platypus: the creature so strange it's said to be cobbled together from a bin of spare animal parts. With its odd appearance -- and even odder abilities -- it's no surprise the creature was once dismissed as an elaborate hoax.

By Kate Kershner

Nature can be a pretty cruel place. Out in the wild, it's either kill or be killed. But in the spirit of self-preservation, will a mama bird really abandon its young at the slightest sign of human interference? Let's check the facts.

By Kate Kershner

Beautiful, graceful, majestic: Such highfalutin words might seem befitting of a mermaid, but a manatee? Perhaps our humble friends deserve a bit more credit. After all, they are known to stoke the imagination of a lonely seafarer or two.

By Kate Kershner

Just how deceitful a creature is the sharp-toothed, swimming crocodile? Any more so than the other animals inhabiting our waters? They do cry, but it has nothing to do with insincerity.

By Kate Kershner

If a massive whale washed up on your beachfront, you'd think that the bulk of the problem would be ... well, its bulk. But if you were covered in decomposing whale guts, you'd think differently.

By Kate Kershner

Unless you've butchered an octopus, you might assume that it's as red-blooded as you are. And you'd be wrong. Why are octopuses the original blue bloods?

By Laurie L. Dove

The world is split between people who eat protein-packed insects on purpose and those who accidentally snack on them along with their packaged foods. But let's be honest: Bugs are far from the worst thing you've eaten in the past week.

By Alison Cooper

Do you think much about the lobster before you crack it open and dip it in butter? These humble animals have some very odd habits. For one thing, they pee out of their faces.

By Shanna Freeman

Spiders have been on Earth a whole lot longer than we have — 380 million years, to be precise — and number more than 38,000 separate species worldwide. See 10 of the most beautiful and scary of these arachnids.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Ah, the secrets of the sea. In this gallery, we'll introduce you to some of the more enigmatic animals that drift in the ocean, swim in the sea or shoot their intestines out of their anus in saltwater. Jump in.

By Kate Kershner

King of the herrings! What regal creature would have such a majestic history? It's the giant oarfish, and it's surfaced everywhere from sailors' nightmares to Southern Cali. Meet the longest bony fish ever!

By Kate Kershner

Periodical Cicadas are pretty strange insects. They burrow in the earth for 17 years only to spend four weeks aboveground en masse before dying. Why do they do this – and do you really have to wait that long to see them?

By Laurie L. Dove

You probably couldn't draw a mole cricket if someone asked you to, but you almost certainly could depict a ladybug. Or maybe you don't know as much as you think you do about this backyard beetle.

By Katie Lambert

This guide will provide cool facts about the tiger salamander including information about its habitat, behaviors and conservation status.

The bunny has long been associated with Easter. How did our hopping friend land this distinction?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Like most mammals, this female gorilla has four limbs and a strong skull to protect its large brain. As well, its thoracic cavity contains a four chambered heart and a pair of lungs.

Like other marmots is alpine marmots are social creatures found in groups of ten to fifteen. But the population of marmots is declining due to the spread of agriculture.

Also called packrat, the bushy-tailed woodrat has a habit of stealing shiny objects to add to its den of sticks, bones is and vegetation. In this guide, you'll learn all about the packrat including it's habitat is and conservation status.

Named after U.S. zoologist W.H. Dall, dall Sheep is an agile creature is also called the white sheep.

Ibex have been hunted as trophies and for meat and medicinal purposes. As a result, these creatures, classified as bovidae, now face habitat loss.

Like many animals in the wild, the Aoudad, is currently vulnerable to extinction. This is primarly due to hunting and habitat loss.

Residing primarly in dry rocky areas, the Crested Porcupine can grow up to 35 inches long. It also possesses specialized rattle quills on its tail that it can agitate, making a startling whizzing sound that sometimes deters predators.