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American Museum of Natural History

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70 Results for "insect"

Find out about Taiwan's fascinating fluttering insects.

Based on fossils of ancient dragonflies, we know these winged insects have been soaring around for at least 300 milli...

Most people know red and black spotted ladybird beetles as friendly insects that are fun to pick up and watch fly awa...

This rare lizard lived in the Gobi Desert about 80 million years ago.

Scientists have identified over 1.75 million species on Earth -- over one million of them are insects and spiders.

Some people may call invertebrates spineless because they lack a backbone or spine! But these amazing creatures are t...

It only seems like the world's entire ant population attends your picnics.

Not all spiders spin webs to catch their meals. When night falls in Australia, the white-tailed spider hunts its prey...

A rotting log is a mighty tasty meal -- if you're a termite. Termites not only eat wood, some kinds live in it, too....

This treehopper looks more like an ant than the flying insect it is. Its costume, called a "helmet," grows...

The Dzanga-Sangha rain forest is alive with the sounds of snakes, chimpanzees, birds, insects, and many exotic creatu...

Many famous dinosaurs, such as T. rex and Triceratops, first appeared in the Cretaceous Period.

Flashback to 80 million years ago in the Gobi Desert. Deltatheridium scurried among dinosaurs.

If you looked at the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag with a microscope, you'd probably find millions of tiny creatur...

Over 80 kinds of poison frogs live in the tropical forests of Central and South America.

If you ever find a pseudoscorpion in your bathtub, don't worry! These tiny arachnids are harmless to humans.

Unlike modern reptiles, pterosaurs weren't covered in scales. They were covered in fuzz! Pterosaurs kept warm with a...

The whooping crane is known as the tallest bird in North America. This long legged creature has been struggling to su...

The snowy egret is a beautiful sight. An adult egret is distinguished by its dark slender beak, long black legs, and...

The gremlin-like, endangered aye-aye makes its home in the tropical forests of Madagascar, a large island off the coa...

Compared to the continent of Africa, Madagascar may seem small. But this island, the fourth largest in the world, is...

Vietnam is a country of amazing biodiversity, including many rare and unusual species. One fascinating example is the...

Tipping the scales at more than 7 pounds, the Goliath is the largest frog in the world. Just two of these frogs weigh...

A firefly's light seems rare and magical. Yet there are many living things that blink, glow, flash, and glitter. The...

You hear a buzz, and swat at a mosquito.

Scientists figured out a way to take genes from one species and stick them inside the DNA of another species. When a...

When he was 8 years old, Theodore Roosevelt found a seal skull. It would be the first specimen in his very own natura...

In the forests of Central and South America grows the vibrant passionflower with deep red flowers and juicy yellow fr...

Have you ever caught a firefly on a warm summer night? Chances are it was a common eastern firefly (Photinus pyralis)...

Most amphibians start their lives in water, and grow up to live on land. But axolotls live their whole lives in water...

The first vertebrates to fly took to the skies about 215 million years ago. These creatures were neither birds nor ba...

The hellbender is one of the largest salamanders in North America.

Most mammals that live on land use their legs to get around. But the white-handed gibbon relies mostly on its arms. U...

Until 1828, pterosaur fossils had been found only in Germany. Then a new kind of pterosaur fossil was discovered in E...

New Caledonia, a tiny island east of Australia, is the only place where an unusual bird called the kagu is found. Abo...

These tropical freshwater fishes come in so many colors, shapes, and sizes, it's nearly impossible to sum up the fami...

If you watched an American black bear lumbering through the forest, you might not notice anything unusual about how i...

Since he was a boy, Vladimir Ovtsharenko has been fascinated by nature. Growing up, he loved collecting spiders, beet...

Many other animals use camouflage -- colors, textures, or patterns that help them blend in with their environment.

About 120 kilometers (75 miles) off the coast of China is the island of Taiwan. Although this country is small, it is...

Taiwan's national butterfly is the Broad-tailed Swallowtail butterfly.

This butterfly once lived in the mangrove forests along the tropical coast of Taiwan.

The dazzling Magellan's Iridescent Birdwing is found only on Orchid Island, about 60 kilometers off the southeast coa...

The rare Taiwan beech tree grows only in a few forests of northern Taiwan. These are also the only places you'll find...

Every fall, over one million Purple Crows journey from northern to southern Taiwan. They spend the winter in warm val...

This prehistoric relative of living ducks had a long neck, tall legs, webbed feet, and a duck-like head.

This extinct bird weighed over 330 pounds and had heavy legs and tiny wings.

Compared to other titanosaurs, Gondwanatitan was a peewee at only about 7.5 meters (25 feet) long.

Named in 2000, this dinosaur is hot off the "paleo" presses! Unlike the jagged teeth of other troodontids,...

This is one of the oldest known dinosaurs!

Because of the diamond-shaped plates on its back, Stegosaurus was given a name that means "roof lizard."

About 100 million years ago, a flying reptile called Pterodaustro guinazui soared above the coast of what is now Arge...

The most dazzling feature on many pterosaurs was a spectacular head crest. Tupuxuara leonardii had one of the most im...

Many animals and plants use color to warn predators to stay away, and the blue ringed octopus is no exception. When t...

Dug up in the Alxa Desert in China, this is the oldest and most complete therizinosaur ever found.

This theropod belonged to a group called ornithomimids, also called "ostrich-mimics."

As you can tell from its body plates and tail spikes, this dinosaur is related to Stegosaurus.

This horned dinosaur had two long spikes on the back of its frill, the bony extension behind its skull.

This plant-eating dinosaur was an ornithopod, as are duck-bill dinosaurs.

With its bird-like features, this animal was mistaken for a giant bird for a while.

Its brow horns and snout horn inspired this dinosaur's name, which means "three-horned face."

In 1938, fishermen off the east coast of Africa pulled up a strange creature in their nets.

The body of a sawfish may look like a fish, but its long, flat snout sets it apart. Rimmed with razor-sharp points, t...

Giant puffballs aren't your typical mushrooms.

This famous long-necked, long-tailed wonder belongs to a group called "sauropods."

A dinosaur book led to this paleontologist's lifelong fascination with fossils.

This large dark bird is unmistakable soaring in the air along the coast.

Although the rosy periwinkle stands only one foot tall, in the world of medicine it's a giant.

The Portuguese man-of-war is actually a floating colony of individuals called polyps that are all dependent on each o...

What do we have in common with sharks, bluebirds, lizards, and toads? We are all vertebrates, or animals with backbon...