Animals & Science

Mounting bird houses around the yard can provide hours of enjoyment for bird watchers and aviary enthusiasts. Bird houses also offer benefits for the feathered creatures themselves.

Penguins are a type of flightless marine birds. There are seventeen species of penguins. All penguin species live somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Penguins live on every continent in the...

Every backyard bird watcher loves to look out the window to a yard full of feathered natives, busy feeders and crowded birdbaths. But even the most avid bird enthusiasts will tell you that there...

The mountains of Southwest China are home to the only population of wild pandas on earth. This area sustains the panda because it is rich with bamboo, which makes up 90 per cent of its diet. The...

Birds have simple requirements for selecting a place to nest. Providing a reliable food source, protective cover, water, and nesting areas will attract birds. Flight takes a great deal of energy....

Many people enjoy watching the numerous species of birds that frequent their yards in the warm spring months. Some individuals put up bird houses to draw in beautiful native species like the...

Macaws are colorful New World parrots that inhabit a range spanning from Mexico to South America. Macaws are often sold for pets, and illegal trapping and trading of the birds has led to several...

Seals are part of a group of animals called pinnipeds, which means feather-footed. All members of this group are marine mammals with two front flippers and two hind flippers used for swimming. ...

The swallow-tailed hummingbird is a South American species of hummingbird most remarkable for its distinct, deeply forked tail and relatively large size.

Spiders are eight-legged carnivorous arachnids. They are found over most of the world in a wide range of habitats from jungle to desert. Most spiders spin sticky webs in which to trap their prey.

Malawi, located in southeastern Africa, is home to numerous endangered species, most critically the black rhinoceros. Many volunteer organizations and wildlife refugees count and preserve Malawi's...

Promoting birds in your yard or on your property in an ecologically sensible manner means little more than ensuring plenty of cover and a broad suite of food sources. While garden shops offer a...

The pearl crescent butterfly is an abundant species that can be found throughout much of the United States. It is a difficult species to identify properly because other species are similar in...

There are more than 22,000 species of fish in the world, and they all reproduce at an incredible rate. Along with being some of the most plentiful creatures on Earth, baby fish are some of the...

There are more than 35,000 endangered plant and animal species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as of 2009. "Around the world, many species of plants and animals have become...

Thousands of animal species are endangered throughout the world. The sheer number of animals that are in trouble can seem overwhelming. Learn about endangered animal conservation and ways that you...

Lizards are reptiles that are closely related to snakes and range in size from the half- inch members of the gecko family to the 10 foot-long Komodo dragons. Nearly 5,000 species of lizards...

Squirrels are small, agile diurnal mammals. More than 300 species inhabit a wide range of environments, including deserts, woodlands and urban parks. Squirrels live on all continents except...

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, more than 32,000 endangered animals exist in the world. Individuals with time, effort and...

While species associated with temperate deciduous forests, such as the American bald eagle, have experienced a revival in terms of population and are no longer considered endangered, other species...

There are at least 40 known species of endangered animals in North America. An animal is classified as endangered if it is likely to become extinct. Although each animal has become endangered for...

The London Zoo, located less than two miles from the center of London, is considered one of the world's largest and most prestigious collections of animals.

The purpose of an animal's skull is to protect the life center or brain and sensory organs. Because animals are uniquely adapted for the particular environmental stresses they face, identification...

Manitoba is a large Canadian province that is home to thousands of Arctic species. A number of these species have become threatened or endangered due to environmental changes.

The term snapping turtle refers to two species of freshwater turtles native to the rivers, lakes and streams of North America. These turtles are known for their powerful snapping jaws and their...

Taiga is the Russian word for forest and it is also the largest terrestrial biome in the world. It covers the northern parts of Eurasia and North America, beginning just below the arctic biome....

Florida is one of the most ecologically diverse states with more than 25 primary habitats supporting a rich array of animal life. According to the Florida Endangered and Threatened Species Act,...

Rainforests cover a very small percentage of the world. Yet surprisingly, more than half of the world's plants and animals thrive in them and many species of plants and animals exist only in...

Denali National Park and Preserve--originally established as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917, then extended and renamed in 1980--is home to 39 mammal species, 167 bird species, 10 fish...

Endangered species number so few that their extinction from the Earth within a few years is possible. Species of plants and animals can become threatened with extinction or completely vanish from...

The kingdom Animalia includes more than two million species---both living and extinct---of animals, ranging in size from mammals as large as elephants and hippopotami to arthropods so tiny they...

Spanning approximately 6,592,850 square miles, Russia is the world's largest country. The climate of Russia is primarily a continental climate with average yearly temperatures that often fall...

Tadpoles are the aquatic larval stage of amphibious creatures, including frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. More than 3,000 species of frogs and toads exist, 80 of which may be found in the...

Swaziland is located in southern Africa, and consists mostly of mountains and hills with some sloping plains. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened...

According to LonelyPlanet.com, Tanzania has around 430 animal species living in the country. And nearly 200 of those animal species are listed as "endangered" or "critically endangered" on the...

Aquatic habitats include all bodies of water, such as ponds, lakes and oceans, as well as streams and rivers. Wetlands specifically are some of the most productive and important ecosystems on the...

Frogs are a widely diverse group of amphibians that can be found throughout the world. Frogs are characterized by moist skin and the lack of scales and claws. Frogs also undergo a transformation...

The term "monkey" applies to a large group of very diverse primates. There are at current count more than 130 different monkey species. Monkeys are any primate that is not classified as human, ape...

There are more than 9,000 species of birds that inhabit every region of the planet, from the burrowing owl of the American desert to the emperor penguin of Antarctica. Yet despite their incredible...

The term Darwinism is used interchangeably with Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, which Darwin proposed as the means by which evolution proceeds. Darwinism was controversial even among...

The fish we call salmon is actually several different species within the family Salmonidae, which also includes trout. There are two very different types of salmon, Atlantic salmon and Pacific...

Reptiles come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny geckos to mammoth dinosaurs. Their reproductive methods and behaviors generally differ greatly from mammals, though there are some similarities....

Dive into almost any coral reef in the world and you will find yourself surrounded by diverse life forms. From fish to coral, anemones to larger life forms, they all live in complex harmony with...

There are many animals across the European continent with declining numbers in population. Many of those have already been listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as vulnerable,...

Although fish aren't cute or cuddly, we still have reason to care about their survival. The Earth's waters are made up of different ecosystems, from shallow coastal waters to gulfs and bays and...

There are 17 species of hummingbirds in the United States, with the ruby-throated hummingbird being one of the best known. They are the smallest type of bird and their ability to fly backward and...

While many countries and continents are home to a variety of threatened and endangered species, Africa is home to many of the most known. A few of those animals (like the African Elephant) reside...

The world is covered in hundreds of thousands of species of animals, and some of the oldest are the tortoises. There are many different species of tortoise, one of them being the African leopard...

Thirteen species of Darwin's finches live on the Galapagos Islands. The small tree finch is one of these thirteen species.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution stems from his book "On the Origin of Species," published in 1859. The idea had been present for some time---in the works of Aristotle, medieval scholars and...