Jaguar (scientific name: Panthera onca) is a big cat and one of the five species in the Panthera genus (the others are Lion, tiger, leopard, and snow leopard). It is the most feared predator in the Americas. Here are 20 amazing jaguar facts.
A beluga whale has been filmed playing “fetch” with South African rugby fans using an official 2019 Rugby World Cup ball near the Arctic Pole.
In the video published on Facebook by Alon Kowen, a group of South African rugby fans can be seen throwing a 2019 Rugby World Cup ball out into the ocean. The cute and friendly whale chases the ball and returns it to the men on the boat.
In a video published by the Smithsonian channel, a diver stumbles across a whale shark trapped in a commercial fishing line in a marine sanctuary that bans fishing and frees him by cutting the rope. The giant fish lies still while the rope is cut. The footage also shows the scale of a whale shark vs a human.
One fact about our time is becoming increasingly well-known. No matter how far you travel, no matter in which direction you point, there is nowhere on Earth that remains free from the traces of human activity. The chemical and biological signatures of our species are everywhere. Transported around the globe by fierce atmospheric winds, relentless ocean currents, and the capacious cargo-holds of millions of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, nowhere on Earth is free from humanity’s imprint. Pristine nature has permanently blinked out of existence.
The question of where the evolutionary cradle of modern humans lies has long intrigued scientists and historians. The East African Great Rift Valley has traditionally been viewed as the most likely birthplace. However, revolutionary research conducted recently presents a compelling alternative.
This groundbreaking study utilizes DNA evidence to trace back the origins of mankind to a prehistoric wetland known as Makgadikgadi-Okavango, located south of the Great Zambezi River. This finding significantly shifts the focus of anthropological inquiry from East Africa to Southern Africa.
In a landmark study published in the prestigious journal Nature, it was revealed that the earliest population of H. sapiens sapiens, our direct ancestors, emerged approximately 200,000 years ago in an area that encompasses parts of what is now modern-day Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
The research unraveled a hitherto unappreciated chapter of human history, infusing fresh life into the story of human evolution. This revelation underscores the intricate tapestry of the human lineage and affirms the complexities underlying our understanding of human evolution.
An amazing video with scenes from the documentary Wild Scandinavia Episode 5 (Finland), with background music of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ great work Finlandia, Op. 26.
What does the term crocodylian bring to mind? A big reptile with a chomping jaw? But exactly which environmental factors created today’s large crocodiles?
There are big wildfires in the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Rainforests are the oldest living ecosystems and without a shadow of a doubt, the most vital habitats on Earth (the Amazon rainforest has been in existence for at least 55 million years). The Amazon represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species.
Bees – including honey bees, bumblebees, and solitary bees – are very important because they pollinate food crops. Pollination is where insects move pollen from one plant to another, fertilizing the plants so that they can produce fruit, vegetables, seeds, and so on. If all the bees went extinct, it would destroy the delicate balance of the Earth’s ecosystem and affect global food supplies.
Elephants! Even though these largest existing land animals are loved, revered, and respected by people and cultures worldwide, they are actually close to the edge of extinction. The escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict, and mistreatment in captivity are just some of the threats to both African and Asian elephants. So, we urgently need to take action to protect these amazing (and cute!) animals. Here are 20 amazing elephant facts.