{"schemaVersion":"2026-08-01","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T03:36:17.265Z","availability":"available","facts":[{"date":"2026-09-10","slug":"ground-pangolin-tongue-attached-near-pelvis","url":"/facts/2026-09-10/ground-pangolin-tongue-attached-near-pelvis","headline":"Its tongue is anchored near the hips","summary":"The ground pangolin's tongue does not attach at the throat like most mammals. Instead it runs back to the pelvis, letting the animal unfurl a probe longer than its own body deep into insect nests.","animal":{"name":"Ground Pangolin","slug":"ground-pangolin","scientificName":"Smutsia temminckii"},"habitat":"Savanna woodland, grassland and semi-arid scrub with termite and ant colonies, often near sandy or loamy soils suitable for burrowing","taxonomicClass":"Mammalia","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-08","slug":"atlantic-mudskipper-skin-breathing","url":"/facts/2026-09-08/atlantic-mudskipper-skin-breathing","headline":"This fish breathes through its skin on land","summary":"Atlantic mudskippers spend most of their active hours out of water, absorbing oxygen through their skin and mouth lining rather than relying only on gills, a trait called cutaneous respiration.","animal":{"name":"Atlantic Mudskipper","slug":"atlantic-mudskipper","scientificName":"Periophthalmus barbarus"},"habitat":"Intertidal mudflats, mangrove swamps and estuaries","taxonomicClass":"Actinopterygii","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-07","slug":"fossa-juvenile-female-masculinization","url":"/facts/2026-09-07/fossa-juvenile-female-masculinization","headline":"Young female fossas temporarily look like males","summary":"Before reaching sexual maturity, female fossas grow an enlarged, spine-covered pseudo-penis and rust-orange fur matching adult males, a disguise thought to reduce harassment, then lose both traits within a couple of years.","animal":{"name":"Fossa","slug":"fossa","scientificName":"Cryptoprocta ferox"},"habitat":"Dense tropical rainforest and dry deciduous forest","taxonomicClass":"Mammalia","sourceCount":2,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-06","slug":"stingless-bee-defends-by-biting","url":"/facts/2026-09-06/stingless-bee-defends-by-biting","headline":"Stingless bees defend the nest by biting instead","summary":"Their sting is reduced to a useless stub, so defence falls to mandibles, resin and sheer numbers. Some species bite hard enough to draw blood, and a few smear caustic plant secretions into the wound.","animal":{"name":"Stingless Bee","slug":"stingless-bee","scientificName":null},"habitat":"Tropical and subtropical forest and savanna, nesting in tree hollows, walls and underground cavities","taxonomicClass":"Insecta","sourceCount":2,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-05","slug":"green-humphead-parrotfish-makes-sand","url":"/facts/2026-09-05/green-humphead-parrotfish-makes-sand","headline":"A single parrotfish makes tonnes of sand a year","summary":"Humphead parrotfish bite living coral, grind the skeleton in a throat mill of interlocking teeth, and excrete the rock as fine white sand. Estimates for large individuals run to several tonnes per fish per year.","animal":{"name":"Green Humphead Parrotfish","slug":"green-humphead-parrotfish","scientificName":"Bolbometopon muricatum"},"habitat":"Outer reef slopes and lagoons, sheltering in caves and wrecks at night","taxonomicClass":"Actinopterygii","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-04","slug":"eurasian-curlew-bill-tip-bends-independently","url":"/facts/2026-09-04/eurasian-curlew-bill-tip-bends-independently","headline":"The curlew's bill tip opens without opening the bill","summary":"A curlew probing deep in mud cannot open its whole bill against the sediment. Instead the upper mandible flexes near the tip, a mechanism called rhynchokinesis, so the bird can grip a worm at depth with only the last few millimetres moving.","animal":{"name":"Eurasian Curlew","slug":"eurasian-curlew","scientificName":"Numenius arquata"},"habitat":"Upland moor and damp grassland when breeding; estuaries and mudflats in winter","taxonomicClass":"Aves","sourceCount":4,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-03","slug":"halls-new-guinea-crocodile-named-from-old-notes","url":"/facts/2026-09-03/halls-new-guinea-crocodile-named-from-old-notes","headline":"A large crocodile was named a species in 2019","summary":"Crocodylus halli was described from museum specimens and decades-old field notes rather than a new discovery in the field. The animals were well known locally; what changed was the recognition that they were not the same species as their northern neighbours.","animal":{"name":"Hall's New Guinea Crocodile","slug":"halls-new-guinea-crocodile","scientificName":"Crocodylus halli"},"habitat":"Freshwater swamps, lakes and slow rivers of southern lowlands","taxonomicClass":"Reptilia","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-02","slug":"sea-squirt-larva-has-a-notochord-adults-lose","url":"/facts/2026-09-02/sea-squirt-larva-has-a-notochord-adults-lose","headline":"The sea squirt larva is built like a tadpole","summary":"The adult is a filtering sac with no backbone and no obvious head. Its larva, by contrast, swims with a tail stiffened by a notochord and a dorsal nerve cord, the defining features of the group that includes vertebrates.","animal":{"name":"Sea Squirt","slug":"sea-squirt","scientificName":"Ciona intestinalis"},"habitat":"Harbours, pilings and hard substrates in temperate coastal waters","taxonomicClass":"Ascidiacea","sourceCount":4,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-09-01","slug":"compass-termite-mounds-align-north-south","url":"/facts/2026-09-01/compass-termite-mounds-align-north-south","headline":"Compass termite mounds line up north to south","summary":"The flat faces of the wedge point east and west, so the broad sides catch weak morning and evening sun while the narrow edge meets the fierce midday sun overhead. The alignment is remarkably consistent across a plain.","animal":{"name":"Compass Termite","slug":"compass-termite","scientificName":"Amitermes meridionalis"},"habitat":"Seasonally flooded grassland plains of the Australian tropics","taxonomicClass":"Insecta","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-31","slug":"yucca-moth-deliberately-pollinates-then-lays-eggs","url":"/facts/2026-08-31/yucca-moth-deliberately-pollinates-then-lays-eggs","headline":"The yucca moth pollinates on purpose","summary":"Almost all pollination is accidental, a by-product of insects seeking food. The female yucca moth gathers pollen with specialised mouthparts, lays eggs in the flower's ovary, then climbs the style and packs the pollen in deliberately.","animal":{"name":"Yucca Moth","slug":"yucca-moth","scientificName":"Tegeticula yuccasella"},"habitat":"Arid and semi-arid grassland, prairie and desert where yuccas grow","taxonomicClass":"Insecta","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-30","slug":"california-sea-hare-giant-neurons","url":"/facts/2026-08-30/california-sea-hare-giant-neurons","headline":"A sea slug with visible neurons","summary":"Aplysia californica has around twenty thousand central neurons, some nearly a millimetre across and individually identifiable from animal to animal. That combination made it the organism in which the cellular basis of simple learning was first worked out.","animal":{"name":"California Sea Hare","slug":"california-sea-hare","scientificName":"Aplysia californica"},"habitat":"Shallow rocky subtidal and intertidal zones with abundant red algae","taxonomicClass":"Gastropoda","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-29","slug":"largetooth-sawfish-pups-grow-up-in-rivers","url":"/facts/2026-08-29/largetooth-sawfish-pups-grow-up-in-rivers","headline":"Largetooth sawfish pups grow up in rivers","summary":"Newborns move out of estuaries and into fresh water, where they can spend several years before returning to the sea. That nursery habit put the species deep inland, and it is why dams and water extraction hurt a marine ray.","animal":{"name":"Largetooth Sawfish","slug":"largetooth-sawfish","scientificName":"Pristis pristis"},"habitat":"Estuaries, river mouths and freshwater rivers and lakes, as well as shallow coastal seas","taxonomicClass":"Chondrichthyes","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-28","slug":"northern-short-tailed-shrew-venomous-saliva","url":"/facts/2026-08-28/northern-short-tailed-shrew-venomous-saliva","headline":"This shrew paralyses prey with venomous saliva","summary":"Toxic saliva from the short-tailed shrew's submandibular gland can immobilise invertebrates and small vertebrates. The shrew stores paralysed but living prey, keeping a fresh larder through periods when hunting is poor.","animal":{"name":"Northern Short-tailed Shrew","slug":"northern-short-tailed-shrew","scientificName":"Blarina brevicauda"},"habitat":"Deciduous and mixed forest, grassland and marsh with deep leaf litter","taxonomicClass":"Mammalia","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-27","slug":"ringed-caecilian-young-eat-mothers-skin","url":"/facts/2026-08-27/ringed-caecilian-young-eat-mothers-skin","headline":"Ringed caecilian young eat their mother's skin","summary":"After hatching, ringed caecilian young feed by peeling and eating the outer layer of their mother's skin, which she grows thickened and nutrient-rich for the purpose. They also take a fluid she secretes from the vent.","animal":{"name":"Ringed Caecilian","slug":"ringed-caecilian","scientificName":"Siphonops annulatus"},"habitat":"Moist soil and leaf litter in forest and disturbed ground","taxonomicClass":"Amphibia","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":"An earlier version said milk-like provisioning of young had previously been described only in mammals and a few birds. Comparable nutritive secretions are also documented in some fish, cockroaches and jumping spiders, so the entry now describes the 2024 caecilian finding as the first such case reported in an egg-laying amphibian."},{"date":"2026-08-26","slug":"sulphur-crested-cockatoo-bin-opening-spread","url":"/facts/2026-08-26/sulphur-crested-cockatoo-bin-opening-spread","headline":"Sydney cockatoos taught each other to open bins","summary":"The technique of prising open a kerbside wheelie bin lid appeared in a few Sydney suburbs and then spread outward along neighbourhood lines. Mapping where it turned up showed social learning, not independent invention in each place.","animal":{"name":"Sulphur-crested Cockatoo","slug":"sulphur-crested-cockatoo","scientificName":"Cacatua galerita"},"habitat":"Woodland, forest edge, farmland and urban parkland","taxonomicClass":"Aves","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-25","slug":"two-toed-amphiuma-largest-genome-cells","url":"/facts/2026-08-25/two-toed-amphiuma-largest-genome-cells","headline":"The amphiuma carries an enormous genome","summary":"Two-toed amphiumas have one of the largest genomes measured in any animal, roughly twenty-five times the size of a human's. The consequence is visible under a microscope: their red blood cells are among the biggest known in vertebrates.","animal":{"name":"Two-toed Amphiuma","slug":"two-toed-amphiuma","scientificName":"Amphiuma means"},"habitat":"Swamps, bayous, drainage ditches and weedy ponds","taxonomicClass":"Amphibia","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":"An earlier version gave the two-toed amphiuma's genome as roughly twenty times the human genome in the summary and around twenty-five times in the body. The figure is now stated consistently as about twenty-five times, matching the published DNA content estimate."},{"date":"2026-08-24","slug":"common-limpet-strongest-known-teeth","url":"/facts/2026-08-24/common-limpet-strongest-known-teeth","headline":"Limpet teeth are the strongest known biological material","summary":"The tiny teeth on a limpet's rasping tongue are reinforced with goethite nanofibres and reach tensile strengths of roughly three to six and a half gigapascals, exceeding spider silk and matching high-performance engineered fibres.","animal":{"name":"Common Limpet","slug":"common-limpet","scientificName":"Patella vulgata"},"habitat":"Exposed and sheltered rocky shores in the intertidal zone","taxonomicClass":"Gastropoda","sourceCount":3,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-23","slug":"glass-sponge-conducts-electrical-signals-without-nerves","url":"/facts/2026-08-23/glass-sponge-conducts-electrical-signals-without-nerves","headline":"Glass sponges send electrical signals without nerves","summary":"Sponges have no neurons, yet a glass sponge can arrest its feeding current across the whole body within seconds of a disturbance. The signal travels through continuous cytoplasm, because much of the animal is a single fused syncytium.","animal":{"name":"Glass Sponge","slug":"glass-sponge","scientificName":null},"habitat":"Cold deep water worldwide, plus shallow reefs on the British Columbia coast","taxonomicClass":"Hexactinellida","sourceCount":4,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-22","slug":"leaf-insect-mimicry-is-older-than-the-fossil-record-suggests","url":"/facts/2026-08-22/leaf-insect-mimicry-is-older-than-the-fossil-record-suggests","headline":"Leaf mimicry has a 47-million-year fossil record","summary":"A fossil insect from the Messel pit in Germany, Eophyllium messelensis, shows the leaf-like body outline and leg lobes of modern Phyllium. It puts the strategy at least 47 million years old and reveals it evolved among quite different plants.","animal":{"name":"Leaf Insect","slug":"leaf-insect","scientificName":"Phyllium siccifolium"},"habitat":"Foliage of trees and shrubs in tropical forest and plantation","taxonomicClass":"Insecta","sourceCount":4,"correctionNote":null},{"date":"2026-08-21","slug":"muskox-qiviut-is-finer-than-cashmere","url":"/facts/2026-08-21/muskox-qiviut-is-finer-than-cashmere","headline":"The muskox grows an underwool finer than cashmere","summary":"Beneath the long outer skirt sits qiviut, a downy underlayer shed in sheets each spring. Its fibres measure in the low teens of micrometres, finer than most cashmere, and it is one of the warmest natural fibres collected anywhere.","animal":{"name":"Muskox","slug":"muskox","scientificName":"Ovibos moschatus"},"habitat":"Arctic tundra, windswept ridge and river valley","taxonomicClass":"Mammalia","sourceCount":4,"correctionNote":null}]}