How to Tell the Panthera Species Apart

The identification of the various panthera species (or 'roaring cats') can be confusing but armed with a few facts, you can quickly narrow down the possibilities when trying to place a name with a cat.

The Cheetah - A Unique Cat

The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a highly unusual cat that has numerous characteristics that set it apart from all other cats.

Meerkat Backward Glance

The main predators of meerkats are birds of prey. Meerkats stay safe from predators by remaining alert and close to their burrows. When threatened, meerkats dive underground out of the reach of predators.

Top 10 Cutest Birds

Of all animals, birds are among the most varied in color, shape and size. In this gallery we'll catch a glimpse of a small handful of the many birds that can claim to be the cutest of their kind.

How Snails Move

Terrestrial snails move using their muscular foot. By creating an undulating 'wave' motion along the length of the foot, a snail is able to push against the ground and propel its body forward, albeit slowly.

Sumatran Tiger

The Sumatran tiger subspecies is restricted to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia where it inhabits montane forests, patches of lowland forests, peat swamps and freshwater swamps.

Cats of Asia - Snow Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Tiger

Snow leopards live in mountainous habitat at elevations of between 2000 and 6000 meters. Their range extends from northwestern China to Tibet and the Himalayas.

Endangered Birds

A staggering twelve percent of the world's bird species are threatened with extinction. The main threats to bird populations around the world include loss of habitat due to land use and habitat alteration due to climate change. The stories here detail how individual species are faring in the face of daunting environmental challenges.

North and South American Cats

Pumas, also known as mountain lions, catamonts, panthers or cougars, are a large cat whose former range extended from coast to coast across North America. By 1960, they were declared extinct in most midwestern and eastern ranges.

The Basic Fish Groups

Fish are aquatic vertebrates that have skin covered with scales, two sets of paired fins, some unpaired fins, and a set of gills.

Snail Estivation and Hibernation

Snails are usually active in the summer, but if it gets too warm and dry for them, they enter a period of inactivity known as estivation.

Evolution of Snails

The earliest known snails were similar in structure to limpets. These creatures lived in shallow sea water and fed on algae and they had a pair of gills.

Snail Life Cycle / Development

Snails start life as an egg. Snails bury their eggs in a nest a few centimeters below the surface of the ground.

Chameleons

Chameleons (Chamaeleonidae) form a group of lizards that includes about 160 species. Chameleons are most noted for their unique feet, stereoscopic eyes and lighting-fast tongues.

Snail Senses

Terrestrial snails have eyes that are located on the tips of their upper, longer pair of tentacles. But snails don't see in the same way we do. Their eyes are less complex and provide them with a general sense of light and dark in their surroundings.

Odd-Toed Hoofed Mammals

Learn interesting facts about odd-toed hoofed mammals and find out about the characteristics make them different from other mammal groups, their life cycle and their evolutionary history.

Aves

A taxonomic group (class) of vertebrates, also known commonly as 'birds', whose distinguishing characteristics include feathers, endothermy, and the production of amiotic eggs.

London's Peppered Moths

Read about H.B.D. Kettlewell, an English physician with an interest in butterfly and moth collecting, who in the 1950's decided to study the unexplained color variations of the peppered moth.

American Black Bear

The American black bear is a large carnivore that inhabits the forests, swamps, tundra throughout the more northerly reaches of North America.

The Structure of a Forest

Mature forests often have several distinct layers including the forest floor, herb layer, shrub layer, understory, canopy, and emergents.

Amniote

Amniotes are a group of tetrapod vertebrates that have an egg (referred to as an amniotic egg) that is specially adapted to a terrestrial environment.

American Moose

The American moose is the largest member of the deer family. Moose have a large, heavy body and long legs. They have a long head, flexible upper lip and nose, and large ears.

Axolotl

The axolotl is a salamander native to Lake Xochimilco in central Mexico.

Caecilians

Caecilians are a group of slender-bodied, limbless amphibians. In this article, we'll explore basic caecilian facts including how they are classified, what they eat, where they live and the characteristics that make them different from other amphibian groups.

What Do Turtles Eat

What do turtles eat? Since turtles are too slow to catch most prey by all-out pursuit, questions about what turtles eat are quite common. The answer is that turtle eating habits are varied—what turtles eat depends on the available food sources, the habitat in which the turtle lives and the turtle's behavior.

Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin

Learn interesting facts about Atlantic white-sided dolphins and find out about the characteristics make them different from other dolphin species, their life cycle and their evolutionary history.

Sharks, Skates, and Rays

Sharks, rays, and skates form a group of boneless fishes called the elasmobranchs (Subclass Elasmobranchii). There are about 800 species of elasmobranchs, of which over half (between 450 and 500 species) belong to the Superorder Batoidea, a group that includes skates and rays.

Largest Organisms

Giant sequoias, blue whales, Komodo dragons, African elephants all share the distinction of being among the world's largest organisms. Find out more about these and other sizeable creatures in this article examining the largest organisms on Earth.

Carnivore

An animal that consumes primarily the flesh of other animals.

How Do Coral Reefs Form?

Stony corals are a remarkable group of animals that inhabit tropical marine waters around the world and form vast colonies known as coral reefs