Mammals are among the most adaptable animals on the planet. They are found on every continent and in every ocean, and range in size from tiny bumblebee bats to enormous blue whales. One reason for ...

Tigers and monkeys and tapirs, oh my! Joel Sartore's latest book, "National Geographic Photo Ark: Babies," captures the ...

What is a woolly monkey? An animal called a woolly monkey seems like it should live in the frozen north, not the sweltering Amazon Basin. But the thick coat of fur covering these large primates ...

Reptiles first appear in the fossil record 315 million years ago and were the dominant animals during the Mesozoic era, which lasted for 270 million years until the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Some transport water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide either into or out of the animal. Others fight bacteria or fungal infections. And at least one—in each species—is used for defense. To warn ...

These solitary, aggressive animals are famous for their ferocious punch—as fast as a bullet and strong enough to snap a crab’s claw. Mantis shrimp live in warm, shallow waters in the Indian ...

Its brain is proportionally larger than those found in living reptiles, so the animal may have been as intelligent as modern birds, which are more similar in brain size. Troodon walked (and ran ...

Hermit crabs are omnivorous scavengers, eating microscopic mussels and clams, bits of dead animals, and macroalgae. These crustaceans have been misnamed for two reasons: First, they’re not true ...

Birds are vertebrate animals adapted for flight. Many can also run, jump, swim, and dive. Some, like penguins, have lost the ability to fly but retained their wings. Birds are found worldwide and ...

That's one of the largest size differences between males and females—called sexual size dimorphism—in the animal kingdom. Why the dramatic disparity? It’s not fully known, but it’s thought ...

The oldest winged fossil dates back 330 million years ago, suggesting that insects were among the first animals to leave the oceans for land during the Devonian period some 400 million years ago.

Sea dragons survive on tiny crustaceans such as mysids, or sea lice. It is not known if they are preyed upon by other animals. They are, however, frequently taken by divers seeking to keep them as ...