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The rare blue octopus that surprised scientists has returned to the Galápagos Islands. The specimen, about the size of a golf ball, will be preserved at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which houses an extensive collection representing the archipelago’s extraordinary biodiversity. An expedition collected the first specimen of this species, distinguished by its small tentacles, in 2015 at a depth of more than 1,700 meters (5,600 feet) in the northern part of the Ecuadorian archipelago, known for its endemic flora and fauna. Only three specimens have been observed to date, but the other two were recorded only on video. The...

An aggressive mystery animal is on the loose in New Hampshire, and authorities said it’s gone after multiple people in recent days. The Lebanon Police Department said it’s still unsure exactly what the animal is, but it has reportedly displayed “unusually aggressive behavior towards people,” and at least three unprovoked attacks have been reported since August 30. Lebanon police released video of the animal attacking two people as they got out of a U-Haul.

The New Species of Demon-Named Flower Feeds on Fungi Instead of SunlightIn A Nutshell Researchers in Thailand discovered a new flower species, Thismia daemona, named for its dark, horn-like, demon-inspired appearance. The plant has no chlorophyll and never needs sunlight, instead pulling nutrients from underground fungi. Fewer than 50 known individuals exist, all in a single patch of forest inside a national park popular with tourists. Scientists have preliminarily assessed the species as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria. High in the mountain forests of western Thailand, researchers stumbled on a flower that looks like it belongs in a horror movie....

Grok AI Analyzed the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film — The Results Are Shocking For nearly six decades, the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film has resisted every attempt to explain it away. Now Grok AI has analyzed the legendary 1967 footage using movement, proportion, terrain, and mask-boundary tests. What the system found challenges the classic man-in-a-suit theory in ways that are difficult to ignore. And one frame in particular may be the most unsettling clue of all.

The earthworm eels look, well, just like an earthworm. Image credit: Ishan Agarwal (CC BY) ========================================================================== Avideo of an unusual earthworm-like fish posted on TikTok has resulted in the description of an entirely new species. Named Gangaichthys indonepalicus, the fish is thought to live deep underground in aquifers, making studying these animals almost impossible. “We came across a video posted on the social media platform TikTok in 2024 from the India-Nepal border area that showed a tiny, apparently stygobitic fish, with little melanin and reduced eyes, that had emerged from a borewell (a machine-drilled shaft used to access groundwater from...

Amongst Americans, there's a common view that river monsters live elsewhere – in deep, wide rivers zig-zagging across foreign, untamed lands. Think vast Eurasia. And it's true, the supercontinent is home to some seriously ginormous freshwater fish. Beluga sturgeons, which live primarily in the Caspian and Black Seas but sometimes swim up their adjoining rivers, can extend over twenty feet in length and weigh more than 2,000 pounds! The species rivals the great white shark for the title of largest actively predatory fish. Further south and east, the Mekong River is home to stingrays and catfish that regularly tip the...

"We were quite shocked to discover this shrimp in the heart of the forest." “Though some might describe the Cyclops as a ‘Green Hell’, I think the landscape is magical, at once enchanting and dangerous, like something out of a Tolkien book." Image courtesy of James Kempton, Expedition Cyclops 2023 ==================================================================== Acompletely new genus of shrimp was uncovered during an expedition to the Cyclops Mountains in Papua, Indonesia. The unexpected discovery occurred during a challenging 2023 journey and reveals an entirely new habitat for these crustaceans, which are usually found in water. The expedition was one for the history books,...

In A Nutshell A single octopus collected nearly a mile deep near the Galápagos Islands has been identified as a new species, Microeledone galapagensis, overturning a recent definition that placed its entire family exclusively in the cold Southern Ocean. Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and vivid blue on top with a deep purple-to-maroon underside, the animal displays an unusual reversed color pattern that extends inside its body, a feature researchers think may help hide the glow of bioluminescent prey. Because the DNA samples were lost and no second specimen has been collected, the entire species...

It was more than it was Kraken-ed up to be. An octopus the size of the Hollywood Sign might seem like a monster from Greek mythology. However, new fossil evidence reveals that massive “kraken”-like cephalopods ruled the seas during the Cretaceous period, possibly preying on massive sea reptiles and other so-called apex predators, per a study published Thursday in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This massive mollusk “had among the largest body sizes of all organisms in the Cretaceous oceans,” wrote the researchers, who hailed from Hokkaido University. Indeed, at 62-feet-long, this colossal octopus could grow up...

Sightings of pink, horned creature began in 1953 on Lake DexterDecades ago, a 35-foot-long creature was allegedly seen along the St. Johns River in Astor, sparking rumors of a mysterious beast lurking in the waters nearby. Boaters who saw the so-called “St. Johns River Monster” described it as grey, horned, four-legged, and with an appetite for hyacinths. Strangely, witness accounts reported seeing it either in the river or on land. According to newspaper articles from 1953, the beast — theorized by some to be a prehistoric creature that had survived to modern times — had been reported by witnesses ranging...

The world's oldest land animal, Jonathan the tortoise, is still alive after a viral hoax falsely claimed he'd died. The confusion began after a post on X falsely claimed the giant tortoise had died at age 193. The account, which impersonated Jonathan’s veterinarian, Joe Hollins, quickly gained traction and sparked concern among fans around the world. That claim, however, was not true. "Yes, he's still alive," the X user wrote hours later. "This was just an April Fools' prank." **SNIP** Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, continues to live on the island of St. Helena, a remote British territory in the...

Eight reported Bigfoot sightings were logged across Ohio in just four days, a surge experts say hasn't been seen in the region in nearly 50 years. An expert with the Bigfoot Society podcast, hosted by Jeremiah Byron, said a possible 'flap' - a sudden cluster of Sasquatch sightings within a short time span - may be unfolding across Ohio. Each witness, Byron said, is a local familiar with rural Ohio wildlife, and all described similar sightings: large, black-haired creatures with long arms, walking upright and making 'grunting noises.'

It’s Bigfoot season in Ohio. Numerous reported sightings of the hairy beasts — which are said to be up to 10 feet tall — have been reported in the gloomiest corner of the state, leaving believers on edge. Some are even suspecting an entire family of Sasquatches could be migrating through the region. At least seven Bigfoot sightings have been reported across northeast Ohio since Friday, according to the minds at the Bigfoot Society, with most of the encounters coming between Akron and Youngstown in Portage County. One of the latest alleged incidents happened Monday evening in Streetsboro, with the...

A series of social media posts from a cryptid-focused podcast has ignited speculation about widespread Bigfoot sightings in northeast Ohio, with enthusiasts pointing to what they describe as a concentrated burst of activity. The Bigfoot Society, a podcast and online community dedicated to collecting eyewitness accounts of Sasquatch encounters, says it had received six separate reports between March 6 and March 10 in wooded areas near Mantua and Garrettsville, southeast of Cleveland. The group has described the cluster as a possible "flap," a term used in cryptozoology for multiple sightings within a short time span. "It’s normal for there to...

...Chlorophyll, the main photosynthetic pigment of plants, absorbs mainly blue and red wavelengths from the Sun and reflects green ones, and it is this reflected light that gives plants their leafy color. This fact puzzles some biologists because the sun transmits most of its energy in the green part of the visible spectrum...DasSarma thinks it is because chlorophyll appeared after another light-sensitive molecule called retinal was already present on early Earth. Retinal, today found in the plum-colored membrane of a photosynthetic microbe called halobacteria, absorbs green light and reflects back red and violet light, the combination of which appears purple.Primitive...

After decades of mystery surrounding its existence, a rare animal once believed to be extinct has been confirmed on remote trail cameras in northern California, offering a thrilling sign of wildlife resilience. Scientists say the coastal marten — a small carnivorous mammal that nearly vanished from the state — was captured in recent footage and DNA samples collected via hair snares, validating that wild populations still persist in the region. The discovery has brought renewed hope for the species and underlines the value of modern conservation tools. Once targeted nearly to extinction during the 20th-century fur trade, coastal martens were...

The Ivan Sanderson Papers hold an amazing array of archival material, covering topics from natural history to radio and television programming to cryptozoology. Sanderson was a prominent zoologist in the mid 20th century who turned his attention to less mainstream scientific fields like ufology and cryptozoology. Ivan Sanderson, born in Scotland in 1911, was educated in zoology and botany at Cambridge. After working in counter-espionage for the British Naval Intelligence during World War II, he began to focus on his academic pursuits. Sanderson used the media to bring information about the natural sciences to a wider audience. In the...

Scientists have cracked the code behind a mysterious language discovered among a non-human species living in Earth's oceans that mirrors human speech. Using AI to study whale communication, Project CETI researchers discovered that sperm whales 'talk' to each other with strange, Morse code-like clicking patterns. The mammals used patterned click sequences known as codas, which include two distinct vowel-like sounds — an 'ah'-like a-coda and an 'ee'-like i-coda. The vowel-like noises were not random, as whales were seen actively controlling the pitch, length, and type of sounds they were making as they 'pronounced' different words.

These species skip the tadpole stage entirely, an incredibly rare phenomenon among toads and frogs. In A Nutshell Scientists identified three new toad species in Tanzania that give birth to live babies instead of laying eggs, bringing the global total of live-bearing frogs and toads to just 20 species. DNA extracted from museum specimens collected in 1899 helped researchers solve a 115-year-old mystery about where these toads actually live, with genetic analysis showing populations previously thought to be one species are actually four distinct species separated by mountain ranges. The newly described species face serious conservation threats, with ranges as...

Alligator gars: putting the “gar” in gargantuan for 100 million years. Dr Solomon David, AKA The Gar Guy, said it’s the largest alligator gar he’s ever seen in the field. Image courtesy of Dr Solomon David ================================================================== The Mississippi River floodplains are home to one of Earth’s most impressive river monsters: the alligator gar. Known to science as Atractosteus spatula, it is the largest of the gar species alive today and among the largest fish in North America. Dr Solomon David, AKA “The Gar Guy”, has had more experience than most with these freshwater giants. So, when he messages you...