And the award for world’s smallest known bird goes to the bee hummingbird. These tiny avians can only be found on the Cuban archipelago, the main island of Cuba, and the Isla de la Juventud in the Western Indies. They are so small that they are often mistaken for
The pseudoscorpion, aka false scorpion, is a type of arachnid that can be found nearly the world over. They’re even near the Arctic Circle. These ancient, diminutive critters have been around for approximately 380 million years with little change. They prefer areas with decaying logs, leaf-litter
The baiji (pronounced by-jee) is considered to be the first dolphin species to possibly go extinct do to human interaction. There are believed to be fewer than 10 specimens left. In the 1800s, this species
The poison dart frog, aka, poison arrow frog, poison frog, or dendrobatid, is the epitome of amphibian beauty. They come in a host of colors and all have a secret weapon. Have you ever heard the saying, “You are what you eat”? Well, these frogs are living proof
The gray whale, aka gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, & California gray whale, is a migratory whale species that travels farther than any other mammal. There are 2 separate distributions of gray whales in the North Pacific Ocean: the Eastern North Pacific distribution, which calls the west coast of […]
Residing in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest is among the most beautiful of all butterflies, the blue morpho butterfly. They can also be found in Central and South America. What is truly fascinating about these critters is that they actually aren’t even
The golden-tailed gecko, aka the golden spiny-tailed gecko, is endemic to the Brigalow Belt of South-eastern Queensland. There are 3 subspecies recognized, to date: Strophurus taenicauda albiocularis, Strophurus taenicauda triaureus, and Strophurus taenicauda
The harbor seal, aka common seal, is distributed throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Baltic and Northern Seas. They typically reside in locations that are free of
The African penguin, aka jackass penguin, is nicknamed for their donkey-like bray. These penguins are an indicator species that has represented an overall decline in numbers due to overfishing
Found on Aldabra island in the Indian Ocean, the Aldabra tortoise is one of the largest tortoise species in the world, after the Galápagos tortoise. These giants prefer mangrove swamps, scrublands, coastal dunes, and grasslands. There used to be 18 known species of giant tortoise throughout the islands in the […]
