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Why? Such a perfect name for such a gorgeous little bird.
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Why? Murmurations, of course! They are like mesmerizing schools of flying fishes.
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Why? They are impossible little sea mammals--too small, so their surface-to-mass ratio is a mess. See comments below for more information.
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Why? The males wander like mad. They'll travel 500-miles, from one mountain range to another, even over freeways if they get in the way. They'll go 30-miles a day for no particular reason, 60-miles... More
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Why? Poetic little eels that live in colonies so dense that I mistook them for seagrass the first half-dozen times I saw them.
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Why? Deep sea fish with eyes that primarily look upward for prey...through their transparent heads :O
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Perhaps the most gorgeous aeolid nudibranch, which is saying a lot. These animals--and the closely related dorid nudibranchs--are among nature's most fabulous creations. The sea swallow floats u... More
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Why? What a scary, paranoid name for such an inoffensive, handsome spider. It's a fascinating paradox: whoever named this must have been a quivering arachnophobe, judging from the repetitive Lat... More
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Why? These are BIG, crazy arachnids that are rarely seen due to their secretive habits. Two of their legs are specialized as long, whip-like sensory organs. Their pedipalps are modified into cla... More
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Why? These moths are among the most beautiful insects in the world: the stunning patterns lean toward Art Deco.
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Why? Remarkable adventure behind saving these giant "tree lobsters" after they were thought extinct. Plus, they spoon their mates while resting!
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Why? Ants seriously cross the "humans are special" line. Various species invented behaviors--i.e. agriculture, animal husbandry, war--that we typically attribute exclusively to humans. Like ... More
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Why? Horrifying insect that does intricate brain surgery to remove the free will of it's prey, then leads it docilely to its fate as a live progressive meal for a young wasp, and a case for the bab... More
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Why? The name, again! What's he so depressed about?
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Why? Such a poetic name! It's like a Shakespearean plot.
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Why? It's my friend Beth's favorite insect, and we both just love the name.
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Why? C'mon! Forest-ogre beetle! It's nice to know our fairy tale characters really live in the forest.
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Why? Stunning insect--truly a living work of art.
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Why? These little crustaceans have an amazing defense mechanism. When accidentally swallowed by a plankton-picker, they produce bioluminescence and attempt to light up the fish from the inside, ren... More
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Why? It's astonishing magic to find living things swimming around in an ephemeral, rainwater-filled indentation in the desert bedrock.
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Why? Loren Eiseley once said something to the effect that, "Fish are water incarnate". But the creatures that appear in puddles after a desert rain are even more mystical than that.
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Why? Such amazing animals with such fascinating life histories. See comments for more information.
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Why? They are remarkable little structured colonies of organisms that move around by sailing!
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Why? There are some very odd things about these guys, not least of which is that some of the squishy, amorphous things actually have teeth...in their anus. What screwed up evolutionary scenario ... More
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Why? They give a very strange and beautiful pink coloring to densely salty bodies of water.
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Why? When a plant expends the energy to make a fruit this huge, that means it's locked in an evolutionary dance with an animal who is being bribed to spread the seeds. But the thing is: no animal a... More
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Why? Orchid shapes are unbelievable. This one looks like voluptuous lips.
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Why? Even though it's invasive, this is one stunning plant. It looks like it crawled out of the sea.
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Why? Their seed pods look like a chain of human(ish) skulls. https://www.flickr.com/photos/17416687@N02/7711014220/in/photolist-382Myc-382Myr-edfpwG-5WHowo-5WHowj-ajCLYg-ajFyAY-ow5Aka-ouvLuU-oeJ... More
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Why? Such a silly name :) And an interesting parasite.
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Why? A lily pad you can take a nap on! This lily, "with ribbed undersurface and leaves veining 'like transverse girders and supports', was Paxton's inspiration for The Crystal Palace, a building... More
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Why? The name, of course. Funny where your mind goes when you hear it, but it's just a remnant of Latin referring to bread, not mindless mass terror :)
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Why? Seriously? It's an orchid that looks like a flying duck!
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Why? A gorgeous mimic orchid that looks like a flying white bird.
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Why? Another orchid with a peculiar flower: this one looks like a little naked dude.
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Why? What's not to like about an amazing 10-foot tall giant flower? I'm guessing it was named by a 12-year-old boy in Latin class. Araceae like this one produce heat, sometimes so much heat that... More
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Why? Beautiful, evocative name for a lovely moss (glittering woodmoss).
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Why? Most wood rot fungus eats cellulose. This process leaves dead wood in familiar cubic brown rot in the forest, which eventually shatters into tinier and tinier cubes until it becomes part o... More
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Why? This is one funky mushroom, bleeding anticoagulant.