Wondering about the weirdest animals in the world? We've listed the Top 31 here — including the axolotl, aye-aye, blobfish, ...

Quick Take New species discoveries in 2025 include over 850 new marine species documented by the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census. In addition to discovering new species, scientists also found at ...

This year, at least six animal and insect species moved to the Extinct category of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Kelli Bender is the Pets Editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE ...

The Earth officially lost at least six species this year, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The list — an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of ...

Golden apple snails have eyes that are similar to humans’—and they can regenerate an amputated eye in just a month. Scientists uncovered a gene related to that process, laying the groundwork for more ...

Some species officially bid us farewell this year. They may have long been gone, but following more recent assessments, they’re now formally categorized as extinct on the IUCN Red List, considered the ...

The state pest reporting platform 643Pest received a few hundred reports annually until 2023, when the floodgates opened for ...

2025 was a year shaped by both loss and persistence, marked by species formally declared extinct, hundreds of organisms newly described, and uneven conservation outcomes across forests, reefs, and the ...

This story appears in the February 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine. Michael decided to go for a swim. He was on vacation with his family in Guerrero, Mexico, and it was hotter than blazes.