The Smaller Majority

An auditory cyclops

Although these days most of our life is spent in front of devices that cram the world into a convenient, two-dimensional space, the moment when we peel our eyes off the screen brings the realization that we still live in a universe that has a pesky third dimension. Sights, sounds, and smells come to us…

Solifugids – arachnid teddybears (with big teeth)

Like everybody else, I have a soft spot for things that are fuzzy and look at me with expressive, big eyes. But of course being furry and having eyes isn’t necessarily equivalent to being cuddly, as I learned during a painful lesson delivered to me once by a silky anteater, whom I had foolishly picked…

The ultimate couch potatoes

The one big difference between terrestrial and aquatic environments is that it is really difficult to be a sedentary animal on land. Under water, with a constant stream of plankton and organic debris floating around, it is just so much easier to sit down, open your mouth, and let things just fall in. Entire phyla…

Scary, scary stuff

As the tradition dictates, every year on this day we like to scare the living crap out of each other. One common way of doing it is to pick a random, small animal, and pretend that it is somehow dangerous or deadly. The top of this list of innocent victims is usually occupied by bats,…

A disappearing Goliath

Quickly vanishing forests of West Africa are still home to one of the most magnificent members of the beetle order—the Goliath beetle (Goliathus regius). Despite their bulky appearance, Goliath beetles are excellent fliers, frequenting flowers blooming in the forest canopy. Adult beetles feed also on ripe fruits and sap, while their giant grubs, which can…