Animal Facts
What is a panzootic – and is it the same as a pandemic?
Ever wondered what a panzootic is? Stuart Blackman takes a look
“My chronic illness keeps me up at night, but listening to tawny owls helps me cope”: How these enchanting birds helped one writer find solace
In the company of owls, poet Polly Atkin finds solace from debilitating illness
83 whale bone tools pulled from Bay of Biscay caves are oldest ever discovered
New research, based or remains found in Spain and France, shows ancient humans used whale bones as tools as far back as 20,000 years.
UK government proposes ban on bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas
Government proposals to ban bottom trawling in more vulnerable marine habitats aim to protect important and rare underwater life.
100-million-year-old fossil found INSIDE belly of gigantic dinosaur in Australian desert
In a world-first discovery, fossilised gut contents from a sauropod reveal what these enormous dinosaurs ate.
What's new?
Lost-long ‘singing’ insect returns to Britain after vanishing three decades ago
Once extinct in Britain, the New Forest cicada has been reintroduced to Hampshire thanks to a groundbreaking conservation project.
Community-led conservation offers new hope for the world's most trafficked mammal
A new action plan unites experts and communities to protect pangolins in southern Africa.
Researchers catch more than 100 swamp alligators in Georgia – and find something worrying in their blood
The discovery raises concerns for US wildlife, waterways and human health, according to a new study.
Mysterious ‘ghost’ animal filmed 4,443m deep in Pacific abyss
The deep-sea footage was recorded at an underwater mountain chain off the coast of Chile.
Who is Ocean Ramsey? Meet the freediver who swims with one of nature's deadliest apex predators
A Netflix documentary, Shark Whisperer, has been made about her – but who is Ocean Ramsey?
Amphibians
Puzzling sound leads Amazon expedition team to stunning discovery
Researchers were exploring the remote Juruá River Basin when a strange call caught their attention.
It breaks its own bones in the battle for a mate, can regenerate and is oddly hairy – meet this bizarre 'Wolverine'-like creature
Meet the amphibian with hair, claws and the ability to regenerate.
11 bizarrest frogs you (probably) haven't heard of - from ultrasonic screamers to a species that glue themselves together when mating
Discover the weird and wonderful oddballs from the world of frogs
Animal ID
10 animals with the wrong names: Discover 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.
How to identify mammal skulls - and work out the creature they once belonged to
Skulls can be found virtually anywhere, but skull identification can be difficult. Learn how to identify common mammal skulls in our expert guide.
How to identify animal droppings: Our guide to the wildlife poop you might find in your garden or out on a walk
Droppings or scats can tell us a lot about which animals have been visiting our gardens, parks and countryside, including hedgehogs, foxes and badgers. Our expert guide explains how to identify which poos belong to which species. Plus, animal droppings from species from around the world – and fungi and insects you might spot on droppings.
Birds
At a metre long, this is the jungle’s flashiest resident and the world's most beautiful bird
All you need to know about the scarlet macaw, one of the world's most beautiful - and intelligent – birds
It stinks of manure, has claws on its wings and eats tree leaves – meet the strange hoatzin, the 'flying cow' of the Amazonian swamps
This avian marvel is also known as the stink bird, the skunk bird and the reptile bird
The poisonous hooded pitohui is the world's most toxic bird - able to exude some of the most powerful poisons in nature
Just how poisonous is the hooded pitohui?
Fish
Meet nature’s deadliest sniper, the archerfish – this lethal assassin shoots down prey with fatally accurate water jets
10 deadliest fish on the planet: you won't want to meet these fearsome species underwater
Beyond the shark! We bring you a veritable who's who of the scariest fish species lurking in the deep (and not-so-deep) waters.
These are the rarest sharks in the world – and before long they could be extinct, warn Shark Trust
Uncover the mysteries of the ocean's most elusive predators with our roundup of the world's rarest species of sharks and rays
Insects & Invertebrates
Delicate scales found in prehistoric poop suggest butterflies were around long before flowers existed – new research
A long-held belief that butterflies and moths co-evolved with flowers has been challenged by a new scientific study.
Deadly, toxic caterpillars on the move pose health threat to animals – particularly dogs – and humans
While the caterpillars are a known issue in parts of London and the South East, experts report that they are spreading to other parts of the country
Just how do pond skaters 'skate' on water?
We explain how pond skaters appear to skate across a pond's surface
Mammals
Fascinating facts about our warm blooded friends - the mammals.
Watch agonising BBC footage of an adorable baby ibex running for its life up perilous cliffs, with hungry foxes in pursuit
Ibex go to extraordinary lengths to escape red foxes
Gob-smacking BBC footage shows young wildebeest faced with a lethal almost suicidal cliff-face drop – does he jump?
Before they even reach the treacherous currents of the river, these wildebeest must leap from the sheer side of a cliff
Just how and why did the elephant get its remarkable trunk?
What is an elephant's trunk used for and how many muscles are in it?
Marine Animals
"The hatchlings' heads were completely separated from their bodies": Australia's ghostly turtle killer caught on camera
Rare video footage shows golden ghost crabs preying on newly hatched loggerhead turtles on the west coast of Australia
"They were going nuts in the wake of the storm”: hurricane causes epic explosion of life off Mexican coast
There was so much life in the ocean that the water turned green, say scientists who witnessed the rare event. Here's what happened...
It looks like an alien, feasts on whale blubber, has multiple legs and hasn't changed for millions of years – meet this creepy, mysterious deep-sea giant
Despite being discovered almost 150 years ago, scientists still know relatively little about this scavenger of the deep.
Reptiles
It has very strange feet, can change colour, has amazing panoramic vision and a very long tongue. Meet one of the world's weirdest animals
All you need to know about the amazing chameleons
Why do iguanas have three eyes?
The iguana's third eye is a useful way of detecting danger says Alex Morss
Jaw-dropping footage shows miraculous 'Jesus Christ lizard' avoiding becoming lunch by sprinting on water
By running at great speeds across water, the basilisk lizard avoids becoming prey – this BBC footage shows exactly how it does it.