Star-nosed Mole
THIS weird and wonderful creature is the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata), a small, semi-aquatic mammal which inhabits the low wetlands of eastern North America. Like other moles, it ekes out an existence in a network of narrow underground tunnels, and digs shallow surface tunnels where it forages for insects, worms and molluscs. Living as it does in almost complete darkness, the star-nosed mole has poorly developed eyes, and is virtually blind. Instead, it relies heavily on its remarkable star-shaped nose. This organ enables the star-nosed mole to decide whether something is edible with astonishing speed - in fact, it recently entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest forager - and also to sniff out food underwater. Continue Reading »
The famous spider from Charlotte’s Web is a barn orb-weaver spider, Araneus cavaticus. Orb weaving spiders produce the familiar flat, ornate, circular webs usually associated with spiders. Orbweavers come in many shapes and sizes, but the brightly colored garden orbweavers, Argiope spp., are the largest and best known. 
scientific name: Gasteracantha cancriformis (Linnaeus) (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae) 
A butterfly with transparent wings? Surely not. Yet there is a species that exhibits this trait. Take a close look at the incredible Glasswing, an enchanting species that confounds science.
Physical Characteristics
A new species of mammal has been discovered in the mountains of Tanzania, scientists report. 
Several species of the wasps known as “tarantula hawks” inhabit the desert lands of the southwest. Pepsis formosa and Pepsis thisbe are probably the two most common. Wasps in the genus Hemipepsis are also known as “tarantula hawks.” The species are difficult to distinguish. 
New Zealand was separated from the rest of the world over 100 million years ago. The Tuatara “lizard” has survived all that time. It is not really a lizard. 
The Dugong (sometimes refered to as a “Seacow”) is a mammal, that is, it suckles its young.
The Ganges River dolphin, or susu, inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. This vast area has been altered by the construction of more than 50 dams and other irrigation-related projects, with dire consequences for the river dolphins.