Birds-of-paradise have some of the world’s strangest and most elaborate courtship displays. In the rainforests of New Guinea, for instance, the male superb bird-of-paradise (Lophorina superba) puts on the now-famous bouncing…
High up in the treetops of Borneo live “exploding ants,” so named because of their unique defensive behavior. When a potential enemy threatens their colony, these ants kill themselves by…
Scientists exploring a patch of the seafloor some 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) deep inside the Pacific Ocean have accidentally stumbled upon a large nursery of octopus mothers. A team of…
Scientists have described a new zone in the Caribbean’s deep ocean, shining a light on a little-known world that’s home to numerous previously unidentified reef-fish species. The area in question…
If you’re curious about the natural world, chances are you’ve seen Emily Graslie’s YouTube channel, The Brain Scoop. From wondering about peregrine falcon promiscuity and how owl vomit helps us…
Scientists have just described a new species of “pygmy squid” the size of a thumbnail. The tiny marine creature is not a true squid, though. Rather, it belongs to a group…
With their long “necks” and sharp, fang-like mouthparts, assassin spiders hunt a strange prey – other spiders. Now, thanks to a study published recently in ZooKeys, there are 18 more…
On January 23, a new national park joined Ecuador’s 54 protected areas. Río Negro-Sopladora National Park lies in southern Ecuador’s Morona Santiago and Azuay provinces within the Cordillera Real Oriental…
For the past few decades, scientists have known of six species of fast-flying, insect-eating bats with dog-like faces — collectively called the dog-faced bats. Now, a group of researchers has described…
The worlds created by fantasy authors like J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling are perhaps best known for their magicians and mythical beasts like dragons, but it would…
Scientists have found a new species of dwarf lemur in southeastern Madagascar. Grove’s Dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus grovesi) was discovered in two national parks, Ranomafana and Andringitra, both of which are…
Scientists have described a new species of bird found only on the island of Rote in eastern Indonesia — but already the population of the honey-eating fowl is threatened by habitat…
In a first-of-its-kind expedition, a team of more than 100 scientists and students have surveyed the largely unexplored Penang Hill in the Malaysian state of Penang. The landscape of rolling…
The world's largest octopus — the giant Pacific octopus — is actually represented by more than one species, according to new research led by an undergraduate student at Alaska Pacific…
Scientists have compiled a list of every known vascular plant found in North and South America, providing a new tool to understand how species are distributed throughout the two continents.…
There’s still so much we don’t know about life on planet Earth that scientists discover new species with whom we share this planet nearly every day. For instance, this year…
A study published earlier this month in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society describes six distinct new species of silky anteater, meaning there are now officially seven species of…
While walking through the forests of Guyana's Potaro Plateau one night in 2014, herpetologist Andrew Snyder noticed a flash of bright cobalt blue peeking out of hole in a rotting…
The Indonesian government is rushing to protect the newly described Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), a species already regarded as the most endangered great ape on the planet. The discovery that…
There are well over 100 known species of butterflyfish, iconic coral reef dwellers that feature an array of distinctive and often colorful patterns. Because they are relatively well studied, scientists…
Researchers from Indonesia and several other countries today (including authors of this piece) published in the journal Current Biology one of the most exciting new species descriptions in this century…
Yesterday, there were seven recognized great ape species in the world. Today there is an eighth, with the release of a study describing a new species of orangutan in Sumatra,…
In January this year, scientists described a new species of ape – a white-browed gibbon that lives in the remote forests of the Gaoligong Mountains on the border of China…
A team of scientists from Seychelles, the United States and the United Kingdom has found a new caecilian, perhaps the smallest species of the legless amphibian on Earth. "As soon…
This episode of the Mongabay Newscast takes a look at our new investigative series, “Indonesia for Sale,” and also features a new acoustic study of Amazonian bats. We recently published…
In a tiny, remote region of Myanmar, scientists have discovered 19 new species of strikingly patterned geckos. These lizards were found in isolated limestone hills and towers (known as karst)…
From the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, scientists have described two new species of Pisonia trees — a group of notorious "birdcatcher trees" known to produce sticky seeds that can…
Several newly discovered spider species have been named in honor of US Senator Bernie Sanders and other outspoken supporters of human rights and climate action. Together with four of his…
For a long time, people living on the Vangunu Island in the Solomons spoke about the "vika", a giant rat on the island that lives in trees and cracks open…
BOGOR, Indonesia — Scientists described four new toads from the hills of Sumatra, adding to the island's already astounding biodiversity. The discoveries mark the first Sumatran additions to the Philautus genus of…
