What’s the difference between cold-blooded and warm-blooded? The animal kingdom can be split based on how body temperature is controlled (thermoregulation): ‘cold-blooded’ ectotherms use external sources of heat, such as solar energy, whereas ‘warm-blooded’ endotherms generate internal heat via metabolism. But while this difference helps define features and behaviour, some species show that the distinction […]
Tag: invertebrates
“The uninvited guest sinks its syringe-like mouthparts into the meaty organ and begins draining it of blood.” Discover the gruesome tongue-eating parasite
Luckily for us, the parasite, Cymothoa exigua, which is a type of crustacean called an isopod, is not interested in human flesh. It lives in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico and Central America, and only infests fish. Beginning life as a swimming form called a manca, a young isopod attaches itself to […]
“He was grabbed by its powerful forelimbs. In the ensuing ‘embrace’ he suffered multiple puncture wounds from its razor-sharp foreclaws”
At first, being hugged to death by a giant anteater doesn’t sound like such a bad way to go. It’s up there with being caressed by kittens, nuzzled by lambs or tickled by baby goats. But there’s a catch. You may have seen videos of anteaters standing on their hind legs, arms outstretched as if inviting you […]
“It is highly territorial and if one of their 192 tentacles come into contact with neighbouring individuals they become extremely hostile…”
Clinging tightly to rocky shores and hidden within shallow tidal pools, beadlet anemones are among the most intriguing — and often overlooked — creatures of the coastline. Where do beadlet anemones live? This beautiful creature is a common sight in rockpools all around the UK, and are one of the few anemones which can live on the […]
“Their teeth are barbed and hollow, and primed with a toxic cocktail strong enough to kill a human. Worst of all they spit out their teeth like poison darts”
Did you know most snails and slugs have teeth, thousands of them? Their teeth come in a huge variety of shapes and arrangements, suiting them to specific diets and allowing many species to evolve and co-exist. Why do slugs and snails need teeth? Herbivorous seaslugs have teeth shaped into serrated triangles or sharp blades to […]
“It feeds on your blood for a week before you even notice – and then leaves behind a rare and life-threatening disease…”
A whopping 31 million Americans are bitten by ticks each year – and the number is on the rise. According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report from April this year, weekly rates of ER visits for tick bites are the highest for this time of year since 2017 in all parts of the US, apart from […]
As Australia expands seismic testing, experts warn of profound effects on sealife
It was spring, 20 years ago now, but he remembers it clearly. On the deck of the Geco Resolution, wind tearing spray from the waves, Robert McCauley stood gazing out onto an ocean blackened by night. The ship had been firing seismic airguns all day, thunderous blasts punching through the water and into the seabed. Over […]
“Marine animals were mysteriously dropping dead: around 1 million were wiped out.” Scientists now know the reason why – and it’s terrifying
In 2025, trouble was brewing in a 20,000 km2 area off the coast of South Australia. For more than a year, marine animals were mysteriously dropping dead: around one million animals were wiped out and some humans even got sick. Now, scientists have confirmed that the culprit behind these mass marine animal deaths is a species of […]