Animal

A Juvenile Himalayan Frog (Amolops Himalayanus), First Found In India In 1888, Was Spotted For The First Time In Tibet During A Pest Survey. Known Only In India & Nepal, It Has, E.G., A Black Stripe From Snout To Ear. This Is The World’s First Juvenile Record With Verified Photos. DNA Confirms Its Identity, Hinting At Cleaner Streams.

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Scientists Filmed A Live Colossal Squid (CS)—Earth’s Heaviest Invertebrate —For The First Time, 100 Yrs After Its Discovery. Known For Having The Largest Eyes Of Any Animal, The 30 cm Juvenile, Spotted At 2,254 Ft Near Antarctica Using An ROV, Offers Valuable Insights Into Its Anatomy & Behavior. NZ‘s Museum Holds The Only Complete CS Public Display.

In A World First, Texas-Based Colossal Biosciences Used Ancient DNA From Dire Wolf (DW) Fossils—Like A 13kyr-Old Tooth & 72kyr-Old Skull—Plus Gene Editing, Cloning, & Surrogate Dogs To Create 3 Hybrid DWs. Though Resembling The Extinct Species, Critics Cite Ethical, Ecological, & Financial Concerns. The Tech May Aid Endangered Species.

Researchers Captured The World’s First-Ever Sounds Of Sharks, Discovering That Rig Sharks Produce Clicking Sounds Underwater When Handled. These 48ms Clicks, Initially Triggered By Handling Stress, Decreased Over Time. The Clicks May Disorient Predators And Hint At Communication, Sparking Research Into The Acoustic Behaviors Of “Silent Creatures.”

The Newly Discovered Duonychus Tsogtbaatari, Found In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, Has The Largest Dinosaur Claw Preserved With Keratin Sheaths. This 10-ft, 573-lb Therizinosaur, A Plant-Eater In The Theropod Family (T. Rex Included), Used Sharp 2-Fingered Claws For Grasping, Defense, Or Display. Feathered, It Resembled Sloth And Giraffe Mix.

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Researchers Captured A Very Rare 2023 Sighting Of A Maori Octopus Riding The World’s Fastest Shark, A Shortfin Mako, Which Can Reach Speeds Of Up To 50 Km/H (31 Mph). This Unexpected Encounter In New Zealand‘s Hauraki Gulf—Between A Bottom-Dwelling Octopus And A Pelagic Shark—Showcases The Wonders Of The Ocean And Inspires Conservation Efforts.

The Blobfish, Dubbed The World’s Ugliest Animal, Won New Zealand‘s 2025 “Fish Of The Year” Contest, With 1,300 Out Of Over 5,500 Votes. Found Off Australia‘s Coast At 2k-4k Ft, It Deforms When Brought To The Surface. Radio Hosts Rallied Support For The Blobfish, Defeating The Orange Roughy. The Blobfish Is Considered Vulnerable To Deep-Sea Trawling.

OCEARCH, A Non-Profit For Ocean Research, Tagged The Largest Great White Shark Ever Recorded In The Atlantic, 45 Miles Off The Florida-Georgia Coast On Jan 17, 2025. This 1,653-pound, ~14ft Male Shark, “Contender,” Equipped With GPS And Satellite Tags, Is Tracked In Real-Time Via OCEARCH’s Apps, Aiding Shark Migration And Conservation Studies.

The World’s Most Expensive Fossil And Also The Most Complete Stegosaurus Skeleton Ever Found, Named Apex, Will Be On Display At The American Museum Of Natural History In New York For The Next 4 Years. This 150-Million-Year-Old Fossil, Which Spans 11 Feet (3.3 Meters) Tall And 27 Feet (8.2 Meters) Nose To Tail Was Bought For $44.6 Million.

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For The First Time Since Its Discovery In 1854, Scientists Found A Juvenile Arthropleura Fossil With A Complete Head In France. CT Scans Revealed, E.G., Millipede-Like Antennas, Centipede-Like Mandibles, & Crab-Like Eyes. Arthropleura, A 300-Myr-Old Ancestor Of Centipedes & Millipedes, Was The Largest Bug On Earth And Likely A Plant Eater.

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