Megan Shersby
Naturalist, writer and content creator
Megan is a naturalist, writer and content creator. She is also a bookworm and a keen board gamer. She is the former editorial and digital co-ordinator at BBC Wildlife, and wrote features and sections for both the print magazine and discoverwildlife.com, including the Q&A and Go Wild sections, Poo Corner and News Species Discovery, the weekly e-newsletter and the social media accounts. Her features have included olms (cave salamanders) in Slovenia, arapaima (very big fish) in Guyana, and the role of hippos as ecosystem engineers in Zambia. She has also contributed to the website and magazine of BBC Countryfile Magazine, and has hosted some its podcast episodes. Prior to joining BBC Wildlife in 2016, she gained a degree in BSc(Hons) Animal Science, undertook behavioural research on zebras and dwarf mongooses, and worked in environmental education for a number of conservation charities.
Recent articles by Megan Shersby
Great crested grebe seen drowning and eating chiffchaffs in Spain
Birdwatcher and photographer Juan Montiel captured the unusual grebe behaviour on camera.
"Exceptional discovery." Animals thought extinct for 6,000 years found alive in Indonesian rainforest
Two marsupial species previously only known from the fossil record have been rediscovered in New Guinea.
Bumblebee queens can survive underwater for an entire week. How they do it is incredible
The bumblebees avoid drowning by combining underwater gas exchange with anaerobic metabolism, according to a new study.
"She will end up focusing on the stronger cub and the weaker cub is ignored, and will die" 10 worst – and most abusive – parents in the animal kingdom
Parenthood looks different across species – and not all are as supportive and nurturing as you might expect. From cliff-diving chicks to sibling cannibalism, these are the animals who parent in an extreme way
It's the size of a small car, has outlived the dinosaurs can dive a bonkers 1,000 metres down
Our guide to the endangered leatherback turtle most frequently seen in British waters.
It's as big as a loaf of bread and weighs the same as a small, 8-week-old puppy
Did you know the world's largest frog is a whopping 32cm long and weighs 3.25kg?
It's 3 million years old, the size of Vikos Gorge and is home to one of the world's weirdest animals – the 'human fish'
Megan Shersby explores one of the world's most spectacular caves, Postojna Cave
It has hundreds of teeth on its eyeballs? Yes - well sort of...
Did you know whale sharks hide a curious armour of tooth-like scales across their eyes?
11 deadliest females on the planet: Discover some ferocious female animals that you wouldn't want to mess with
'For the female of the species is more deadly than the male' – here are our top 11 deadliest females that prove just that.
It's as tall as Brad Pitt, weighs 169kg, up to 10 times stronger than a human and is the master of knuckle-walking
Our guide to one of our closest relatives – the gorilla, including the difference between the two species, why they're endangered and conservation work.
Blue animals may seem rare, but there's more than you think. From sapphire to indigo here are 24 beautiful blue animals – including birds, frogs and even bees
Discover 24 amazing blue animals – some common, some rare. And there may even be some surprises... blue bee anyone?
Tiny mammal the weight of a sugar cube discovered in Ethiopian highlands – and it's totally new to science
One of the world’s smallest mammals has been discovered - and it weighs just 3g.
BBC Winterwatch is back – but from a new location next to the UK's largest sea lough
Everything you need to know about BBC Winterwatch, including when it's on and how to watch
Nature’s hidden miracle workers: 7 ecosystem engineers quietly transforming the planet
From beavers to parrotfish, ecosystem engineers have a profound impact on their surrounding ecosystem and the other wildlife within it.
This deadly creepy crawly is a foot long with 21 legs, venomous enough to kill a bat - and a small child – and has eaten flesh from a human corpse
Meet the biggest - and most venomous - centipede in the world
It's as sleek as a torpedo, as long as a bus, and weighs the same as an elephant: Discover the ocean creature that slices through our waters at 35 km/h
Our guide to the minke whale, the UK's most frequently spotted whale
Is this the world's most aggressive animal? Just the size of a fox, this badass raids beehives, steals from lions, shrugs off snake venom and never backs down…
Renowned for fighting larger animals, the honey badger (also known as the ratel) is a notorious mammal found across much of Africa and Asia.
Christmas Island shrew lost forever in "one of the most mysterious of extinctions”
Australia’s only shrew has officially been declared extinct, killed off by non-native species introduced by humans.
30+ brilliant scaremongering wildlife-themed pumpkin carving ideas: bring the wild side to your Halloween this year
Fancy getting a bit creative and wild this Halloween? Be inspired by these wildlife-themed pumpkin carvings, such as wolves, spiders, moths, owls and even anglerfish.
7 weirdest fungi in the world you (probably) haven't heard of, from the gross-looking bleeding tooth to the creepy dead man's fingers
Fungi can be very strange. Here's our round-up of some of the weirdest fungi on the planet.
Australia approves world-first vaccine to save koalas from deadly chlamydia
The newly developed, single-dose vaccine could be a key tool in protecting the tree-dwelling marsupials from the chlamydia epidemic, say researchers.
Four new tarantulas with huge genitals have just been discovered. Apparently males use them to fend off cannibalistic females
The newly described species of spider live on the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa.
26 new UNESCO World Heritage Sites named - including this wildlife paradise in Sierra Leone
The Gola-Tiwai Complex in Sierra Leone is one of four new sites in Africa and 26 worldwide, joining the Great Barrier Reef, the Galápagos Islands and Stonehenge.
Gigantic insect as long as a cat found in Australia. It may be the country's heaviest ever, say experts
Measuring 40cm in length, the giant stick insect is new to science.
