Animal Facts
They’re a whopping 150 million years older than dinosaurs, look like a shark, have a tail like a rat, teeth like a rabbit and sharp, venomous spines
Chimaeras, or ghost sharks, are distant relatives of sharks and rays Here's all you ever need to know about them
"Please help – we have a hippo in our swimming pool!"
For veterinary surgeon Dr Ulf Tubbesing this call out was definitely different…
"Its sting can cause vomiting and existential dread, and can kill within five minutes..." 10 most dangerous, deadliest animals in the Pacific ocean
From cone snails to crocs, be wary of these deadly marine animals – all found in the Pacific Ocean
They’re age-old rivals –but did you know dogs and cats are actually related? Here's how…
They might not see eye to eye today, but millions of years ago dogs and cats shared more than just our affection - they shared common ancestors…
Does this 25kg fish deliberately go after a man’s testicles? The 'nut-crusher' that mimics the ferocious piranha
It is no coincidence that the red-bellied pacu bears a strong similarity to the red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri), especially as juveniles.
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It has relatively huge hinged fangs and can strike with astonishing speed, delivering a potentially dangerous dose of venom…
Stocky, solitary and superbly camouflaged, the puff adder is one of Africa’s most formidable and feared snake species.
It's called a chicken, sounds like a chicken, tastes like a chicken and raises its young like a chicken – but it definitely isn't a chicken…
Despite its name, the mountain chicken isn't actually a chicken...
"It's not unknown for males to get stuck in the wrong position - back to front, or sideways on - or for groups to become hopelessly welded together…"
How these rain frogs get stuck in when mating
"Its teeth are serrated – like a steak knife. This lets them easily tear their prey into bitesize chunks…" 9 deadliest, sharpest teeth on the planet
When it comes to teeth there's a whole array of ways they can kill their prey
“After tracking the lions for four years, they never ceased to surprise us.” New Lion King-inspired series comes to National Geographic
The trailer for National Geographic’s four-part documentary series, Lion, has been released – and it looks epic.
Amphibians
Scientists recreated the effects of dating apps on frogs. Here’s what happened next
Research from the Smithsonian Institution suggests that there is such a thing as too many options – if you’re a treefrog
These baby animals are swallowed by their fathers and ‘vomited’ out when they’re fully formed
The southern Darwin’s frog has an unusual parenting strategy that led to its starring role in a landmark Attenborough series
It looks like a big earthworm – but this is no ordinary worm. It has teeth, tentacles, a pseudo penis – and can pop its own eyes out of its head
Don't be fooled this is not an ordinary worm …
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
“The drongo can now begin his tricks – but he must first earn the confidence of his victims.”
In this clip from the BBC’s Africa, narrated by David Attenborough, a family of meerkats gets fooled not once, but twice.
In 2025, thousands of weird, flamboyant birds flooded into the UK. And it could happen again
Flamboyant in appearance, the hoopoe is a welcome Mediterranean sight – and a bird with varied cultural resonance. Might Britain’s warming climate enable it
to colonise the country?
When an expedition team went to the Falkland Islands, a group of curious animals surrounded them
A large group of king penguins approached the researchers “before giving a trademark side-eye and waddling off”.
Fish
It weighs the same as 2 grizzly bears and can be aged like a tree – meet the ocean giant that hurtles through the ocean at 44 miles per hour
Bluefin tuna are impressive fish – the largest on record was a 679 kg bluefin caught off the coast of Canada in 1979. But did you know these big beasts start off at just the size of an eyelash?
"It's bigger than a full-size snooker table and has a 40cm-long stinging spine."10 most fearsome, deadly river monsters, including a grisly giant leech
Freshwater holds fewer deadly surprises than the sea - rivers, lakes and streams are places of peaceful serenity. Or are they...?
It's the size of a double-decker bus and weighs a mighty 7 tonnes. Meet the ocean giant that cruises - through the oceans
Basking sharks are the second largest shark species in the world. They feed on microscopic animals called zooplankton.
Insects & Invertebrates
They have a bizarre sex life as each beast have both male and female organs – leading to confusing orgies and extraordinary mating chains developing…
Nick Baker takes a look at the life of a sea hare
It's tiny, covered in hair, and has venomous spines potent enough to cause long-lasting, painful, effects, like muscle spasms, in humans
This is one caterpillar you shouldn't touch says Stuart Blackman
"The epithet ‘killer’ became a tabloid trope, and panic ensued…" Does the world's most dangerous, deadliest bee deserve its killer reputation?
Just how deadly are Africanised bees?
Mammals
Fascinating facts about our warm blooded friends - the mammals.
"It can carry Ebola, a nasty virus that causes bleeding from every orifice and is usually fatal." Meet the world's 7 deadliest bats, famous for carrying lethal diseases
Bats may be tiny and only come out at night but as carriers of some of the world’s most life-threatening viruses, one bite can pack a powerful punch
It sings like a whale, climbs like a cat and was once thought extinct… meet one of the world’s strangest dogs
Fox-faced and wonderfully flexible, the New Guinea singing dog or ‘singer’ is named after its extraordinary rising and falling howl, which has been likened to a yodel or even whale song
It is one of the world's most beautiful, yet rarest big cats that's on the edge of extinction…
All you need to know about one of the world's rarest cats, the Arabian leopard
Marine Animals
Sea muppets look just like seahorses – but they are not really seahorses at all...
The body form of the fish we know as the seahorse has evolved multiple times in the same family
It’s longer than a double-decker bus, weighs the same as five elephants and found in every ocean – yet hardly anyone has ever seen them…
Learn all about the little-known Bryde whale - including why they're rarely seen
‘Golden trees’ over 1m tall discovered deep in Pacific Ocean
An extraordinary new coral species resembling a gilded tree has been found off the coast of Costa Rica.
Reptiles
Scientists looked inside the heads of crocodiles – and made an astounding discovery
Researchers have discovered that the brains of crocodiles and their close relatives have remained almost completely unchanged for 100 million years.
15 brutal, savage snake photos showing just how lethal their killing methods can be when these deadly predators strike…
Striking images show snakes in a new light, capturing their sleek, sinuous form and predatory nature.
"Their venom is a highly potent neurotoxin, 15 times more toxic than a rattlesnake’s..." 10 most dangerous, deadliest animals in the Grand Canyon…
Mountain lions, poisonous lizards and tarantula-eating wasps: introducing the Grand Canyon’s most deadly wildlife
