No matter what time of year, whether it’s sunny or wet, there’s one type of creature that stalks gardeners and seems to be in plentiful supply: slugs. Slugs, along with their shell dwelling siblings snails, are often found on wet autumn days under piles of sodden leaves, but gardeners trying to grow pretty summer flowers […]
Tag: snail
Ten wildlife success stories to sing about in 2019
There has not been much good news for life on Earth this year, with up to 1m species at risk of annihilation, many within decades. But scientists, conservationists and armies of volunteers are working relentlessly to understand and preserve endangered species. Here are 10 biodiversity stories that provided a glimmer of hope. But conservationists have […]
Biggest new animal discoveries of 2013 (photos)
Thousands of species were scientifically described for the first time in 2013. Many of these were ‘cryptic species’ that were identified after genetic analysis distinguished them from closely-related species, while others were totally novel. Below are some of the most interesting “new species” discoveries that took place or were formally announced in 2013. The last […]
Meeting the mammal that survived the dinosaurs
So, here I am, running in a forest at night over 2,000 miles from home. This forest—dry, stout, and thorny enough to draw blood—lies just a few miles north of a rural town in the western edge of the Dominican Republic on the border with Haiti. I’m following—or trying to keep pace with—a local hunter […]