Why the Gemsbok is a Desert Deity
The gemsbok shrugs off a surprising amount of desert death.
Mammals
Eohippus Took its Discoverers For a Ride
The first horse Eohippus looks weird, but then we didn’t look like anything 55 million years ago!
The Cape Fox Isn’t As Sneaky As it Sounds
There’s nothing cloak and dagger about the Cape fox, but it did almost disappear.
Is the Aardwolf as Hard as a Wolf?
The aardwolf is so not a wolf it doesn’t even howl or eat meat. Usually.
Ribbon Seal Ribs on a High Arctic Horror
Ribbon seal: Well that movie wasn’t scary. Ringed seal: What?! I’m white as a pup! I won’t get any sleep …
Why the Nilgiri Tahr Prefers Tea
There’s a myth that goats eat everything. In the case of the rare Nilgiri tahr (pronounced nil-ghi-ri tar), it’s everyone …
Dear Mother Nature, I’m a Moonrat and Nobody Loves Me
Dear Mother Nature, I don’t think anyone likes me. I’m not a rodent, but they call me a “moonrat” because …
Kodiak Bear? Book a Staycation on Kodiak Island!
We’re teeming with salmon, lush grass, juicy berries, and absolutely no mainland grizzlies. The world’s biggest land predator* deserves no …
Hector’s Dolphin Could Do Without the Hectoring, Thanks
There are few cooler ways to discover new lands than on the back of a dolphin. That’s what happened in …
The Eastern Hognosed Skunk Goes For Your Vanity
It has a weirdly bare snout, but the eastern hognosed skunk still has the black and white uniform and violent …
Position: Forest Keeper. Candidate: Baird’s Tapir.
Interviewer 3: She’s late. Did she get lost in the jungle? Interviewer 2: [sighs] There aren’t that many pot plants …
The Zanj Sun Squirrel, or “The Curse of the Awesomely-named African Mammal”
The Zanj sun squirrel sounds like something out of a fairy tale. And it might as well be, for all …
The Volcano Rabbit Needs a Bunny Boom
Welcome to Opposite World, where rabbits are in one place rather than everywhere, on volcanoes instead of plains, and said …
Streaking, Acrobatics, and Organised Debauchery: Just Another Day For a Striped Dolphin!
The grey bottlenose may steal the limelight, but the striped dolphin has some tricks and kinks of its own. In …
The Onager is the Spirit of the Wild and as Stubborn as a Donkey
Much to my shame, I spent ages thinking “onager” was some kind of sports brand. It’s actually a sub-species of …
Rarer Than the Panda? No Wonder No One’s Heard of the Numbat!
Have you ever played that game Scattergories and had to think of an animal beginning with “n”? When everyone else …
No One Knows Why the Jamaican Flower Bat is Wilting
The “Jamaican flower” part inspires beautiful beaches, cartoonishly blue skies, lush palm trees and blazing colours. Too bad this bat …
The Way to a Gelada’s Heart is Through its Stomach
A grass diet would be awesome. You don’t need to cook it or catch it, there’s always enough for everyone, …
The Chinchilla is Hairy, Lairy, and its Situation Scary
Stroking your lover’s hair can be romantic. For a chinchilla, pulling it is downright erotic. Of hair-raising value… That’s not …
Teleoceras
We know what it looked like, what it ate, and maybe even how it lived. How did we find out? …
