Author Sophie Ellis

Sophie Ellis

Sophie is the content creator for discoverwildlife.com and its sister title countryfile.com. She manages the Q+A section of BBC Wildlife and covers the latest natural history TV and film releases.

Recent articles by Sophie Ellis
Kelp forest in California

It contains over half of Earth’s water and all of the continents could fit into its basin in one mega-puzzle

The world’s largest ocean is home to incredible wildlife and is crucial to the Earth’s climate system
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World's largest spider web

It stretches a whopping 106 square metres and spans two countries – and it's home to over one hundred thousand scuttling residents

This epic animal home lies in a huge cave system underneath Albania and Greece
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Prairie dog

It's the size of Ireland and home to a whopping 400 million individuals – making it one of the most densely populated places on Earth

In 1901, an ecologist discovered an enormous animal 'town' in West Texas
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Patagonian mountains

Elusive and rare mammal released into the Patagonian mountains

An endangered deer is at risk of a livestock-spread disease. Now a treatment centre has released its first patient back into the wild
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Mammoth Cave

There’s a cave in Kentucky that’s 426 miles long, 118 metres deep – and fish-eating spiders lurk in it

Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world – but where is it?
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Lake Victoria

They contain a quarter of all freshwater on Earth – but home to hundreds of ocean-like creatures

The sprawling African Great Lakes support a high number of endemic species
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Hang Son Đoòng

It’s large enough to swallow a skyscraper, wide enough to fly a jumbo jet through, and is filled with underground clouds and a river

Hang Son Đoòng is the world’s largest natural cave and remained undiscovered until 2009
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Armillaria ostoyae

“It’s cloned itself to reach a whopping size of 77 square miles.” 6 biggest organisms on the planet including the Humongous Fungus

Whether it’s fungi, plants or animals, here are the biggest organisms found on Earth
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Mosquitoes

Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes across the US. Here’s why

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has applied for a permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency
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Warrior wasp in nest

“Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano.” This painful stinging creature makes bizarre nests and defends them by drumming

The warrior wasp has a unique way of defending its nest – before delivering one of the most excruciating stings on the planet
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Tonkin snub nosed monkey

Rare primate spotted in Vietnamese forest. It was carrying something special in its arms

A critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and baby were photographed in a forest in northern Vietnam
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Tiang

It contains some of the world’s most endangered mammals and can grow to a size larger than Austria

The Sudd is the largest tropical wetland in Africa and is home to endangered elephants, antelopes and prehistoric-looking birds
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African Clawed Frog

“Its poison causes yawning – buying them enough time to leap out of the snake’s gaping mouth.”

The African clawed frog may not boast the vibrant hues of tropical frogs, but it employs a useful anti-predation technique
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Manta ray pooping

A diver was filming a manta ray, when something she wasn't expecting happened…

While observing a manta ray in Mexican waters, diver Keren Flor wasn’t expecting this
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Hydrothermal Vent

Scientists collect tiny creatures 2,000 metres below ocean’s surface. What they find surprises them

Tiny limpet larvae may hold the key to hydrothermal vent ecosystem formation
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Bottle tree Socotra

“It can cause blurred vision, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure and potential fatality…”

On the remote island of Socotra, you’ll find a beautiful tree that hides a deadly secret
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Komodo dragon

“In dragon society, size is everything.” Watch the dramatic moment two huge, venomous lizards clash over a mate

On the Indonesian island of Komodo, the world’s largest lizard competes in incredible fights to earn mating rights
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Lake Malawi

Researchers explore one of Africa’s deepest lakes – and found an unexpected creature lurking in its depths

A surprising insect has been observed at depths of more than 200 metres
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Hamza's African Birds of Prey

Hamza Yassin announces new BBC film that was an “absolute dream” to work on

Hamza Yassin’s upcoming BBC film celebrates Kenya’s remarkable birds of prey – and the people working to save them
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Puffling at Dancing Ledge

“A great thrill.” A tiny creature has been spotted on this cliff face – for the first time in 30 years

After an absence of 30 years, a tiny puffling has been spotted at Dorset’s Dancing Ledge
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Emily Broadwell on Signy ice cap

Researchers sawed samples from a remote island in Antarctica. They found a “hidden diversity” of life

Surprising signs of life have been uncovered in one of the most remote locations on Earth
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View of Strait of Gibraltar

“Some believe that Gibraltar Falls was 1,000 times higher than Niagara Falls.” This could be the largest flood on Earth of all time

The Zanclean Flood, which is theorised to have occurred 5.33 million years ago, refilled the Mediterranean Sea
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Neil the seal snoozes against a fence

“He’s a 1,000kg wild marine predator that is very capable of hurting someone if startled.” Who is Neil the seal?

Neil the seal hauls out onto the island of Tasmania twice a year – around 930 miles from where he should be
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Snottite

“It’s alien in every sense of the word.” In sulphuric caves too deadly for humans, living snot-like slime drips from the ceilings

In a clip from the BBC’s Wonders of the Solar System, Brian Cox visits an ‘alien’ within a cave that’s a death trap for humans
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