Animal Facts
"I believe it may have fallen from someone’s grocery bag.” Scientist finds unlikely creature in US parking lot – and only has one thing on his mind...
The microscopy expert put the big-clawed animal through his micro-CT scanner, creating an incredibly detailed image of its body.
Huge carnivores are roaming the streets of this Ethiopian city. What they're doing could be saving people $100,000 USD per year
In the city of Mekelle, hyenas and other urban scavengers are helping save the waste disposal sector money while also curbing carbon emissions, new study finds.
This microstate borders one of Europe’s most biodiverse mountain ranges but is the least biodiverse country in the world – here’s why
San Marino is a mountainous microstate measuring just 61km2
“When an elephant calf is cut off from its herd, the lions charge towards it.” 10 animal behaviours filmed for the first time
To mark 20 years of the BBC TV series Planet Earth, we look at some of the filming firsts it captured – from an elusive Himalayan big cat to a ‘zombie’ fungus
Mysterious red cups are appearing on woodland floors. But they're not fairy baths, as people once thought...
Look to the floor on your next forest walk and you may spot these vivid jewels among the leaf litter, says Ben Hoare.
What's new?
Snakes are hanging from cave ceilings on this Caribbean island. They're waiting for something
Measuring up to two metres in length, the Puerto Rican boas lower their long bodies into the darkness and wait...
Fiery eyes, fluffy 'horns' and a strange hoot – meet one of Britain's most mysterious predators
Long-eared owls are one of the most secretive birds in Britain.
"They turn parts of their genitalia inside out and lock them together" 7 weirdest sexual rituals in the animals kingdom
Courtship in the animal kingdom takes all forms. Here are some of the more unusual mating rituals, from birds and snakes to slugs and insects.
Researchers in Oxford have been studying great tits for 75 years. They discovered something odd (and human-like) about their song
As part of the long-running Wytham Wood research project, great tits and blue tits are being studied
Explosive power of great white shark revealed in staggering slow-motion video
These huge sharks can leap 3m out of the water – that's as high as a school bus!
Amphibians
“The sight of them writhing around in slippery foam will stay with me for a while.” This mating ritual could be Earth’s weirdest
Female Japanese tree frogs produce foam-like nests to lay eggs in – and things soon turn into a slippery mess
“It secretes a matcha-coloured substance from its anal gland that smells of rotting flesh.” This animal is insanely good at faking death
Whether it’s to deter predators or to avoid mating, plenty of animals fake their own death
It's as long as a bicycle, weighs the same as a German shepherd dog, is slightly creepy looking – and cries like a baby when removed from water
The giant salamanders of the Far East are by far the biggest amphibians in the world - but which one is king of all?
Animal ID
Mountain chicken, guinea pig, honey bear, bearcat – 10 animals with completely the wrong names, misleading monikers and curious cases of mistaken identity
Common names for animals are often easier to remember than their Latin names, but they can often lead to confusion. Here are 10 animals with some very misleading names.
A snake the weight of a grizzly bear and a giant centipede that hangs from cave ceilings – meet 11 of the Amazon's deadliest animals
From a huge carnivorous centipede to a tiny poisonous frog, here are some of the of the deadliest creatures in the Amazon.
It's sleek, black, incredibly beautiful and very fast – and is known as the 'cheetah of the deep sea' despite weighing over a tonne
Learn all about the unmistakable pilot whale, from their diet and size to life in the pod and why, sadly, they're prone to beaching
Birds
Why don’t baby birds make less noise to avoid attracting predators?
To be honest making a noise isn't always the best strategy for staying alive...
The 'Great Texas Freeze' killed thousands of beloved songbirds. Scientists are worried about what might happen next
North America’s largest swallow, the purple martin, was hit hard by winter storms in 2021. With erratic weather events becoming more common, experts are concerned about the bird's long-term survival.
Birdwatching may slow ageing of the brain, say neuroscientists
Learning to identify birds could be beneficial for cognition as people get older, according to a new study.
Fish
436-million-year-old fossil found in South China is oldest complete bony fish ever discovered
The discovery of two ancient fish in South China has re-written what we thought we knew about the evolution of early vertebrates.
No that's not a golf ball on its head – one man-made very weird species...
Discover on of the world's weirdest fish that was entirely man made.
"Like an ‘aircraft’ hovering in the middle of the water." Ghostly cavefish found beneath the ground in China
The otherworldly Yang's plateau loach is one of hundreds freshwater fish species described in 2025, new report reveals.
Insects & Invertebrates
It’s up to 40 miles wide, contains billions of creatures and can take 20 years to form – is this nature’s most destructive swarm?
In astonishing footage from Planet Earth, swarms of desert locusts decimate vegetation
Dance, pluck… then paralyse: the riskiest date night in nature
When it comes to surviving a potentially deadly mating, it helps to have a plan
It has hairy legs and flies with its tongue poking out – and it could be in a garden near you
Meet the well-named hairy-footed flower bee.
Mammals
Fascinating facts about our warm blooded friends - the mammals.
Why cats have slit-shaped pupils, why some cats roar and some purr and the feline that can leap 9 metres – 19 wild cat facts that will boggle your mind
From cheetahs that can hit 94kmph to snow leopards that wrap their tails like scarves, the world of wild cats is full of unexpected quirks. Here are 10 facts about wild cats you (probably) won't know
Do cats really have three eyelids?
Why do cats, and other animals, have a third eyelid yet humans don't? Stuart Blackman explains
It’s not just humans who love a strong jawline...
Marine Animals
It's as long as a basketball court, as tall as a giraffe and so huge it can be seen from space
Experts estimate that the massive mega coral – found near the Solomon Islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean – is about 300 years old.
"Can you imagine being chased by an apex predator?” Tourists watch incredible escape in Antarctica
Tourists were stunned when a pair of orcas tried to hunt a gentoo penguin alongside their ship. Here’s what happened next.
This area of the North Atlantic ocean is infamous for shipwrecks and conspiracy theories. But does anything live there?
Does anything live in the Bermuda Triangle? Quite a lot actually, as Melissa Hobson explains
Reptiles
Can a human outrun a crocodile? Just how fast are these deadly, ferocious reptiles?
Just how fast are crocodiles?
Is this the biggest maternity ward in the world? Mega nest of 41,000 huge animals in Amazon is the largest ever found...
How drones revealed over 41,000 giant South American river turtles nesting on the banks of the Guaporé River between Brazil and Bolivia.
“Hunger drives the lizard to make a second attempt.” Watch brutal BBC footage of an opossum fighting off a huge lizard to save her babies
In footage captured for the BBC TV film Komodo: The Deadly Bite, a monitor lizard tries to steal from an opossum nest
