• Photo: Close-up of branching coral

    Coral Patterns

    See the Brilliant Intricacies

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Invertebrate Features

  • Photo: Cluster of orange cup coral

    Photo Gallery: Coral Reefs

    About 80 percent of all life on Earth is found in the oceans, which cover 71 percent of the planet's surface. Take a look at how colorful life under the sea can be.

  • Photo: Oysters covered in barnacles

    Oyster

    Learn why these slimy-but-tasty invertebrates produce pearls. See how oysters can help humans monitor water quality by serving as “canaries in the coal mine."

  • Photo: Sea cucumber

    Sea Cucumber

    Learn how these amazing echinoderms deter predators by snaring them with sticky threads and even hurling their internal organs about.

  • Photo: A troglobite

    Discoveries in the Dark

    Eyeless spiders, translucent millipedes, 175-year-old crayfish, and other odd cave-dwellers face an uncertain future.

Animal News

  • The 'Tarzan' lizard.

    Tarzan Chameleon Found

    The discovery on Madagascar of the new species—given away by its flat snout—is a "Tarzan yell for conservation," a new study says.

  • A yellow-bellied three-toed skink.

    Lizard Evolving for Live Birth

    A skink species lays eggs on coasts but births babies in mountains, giving a glimpse of how placentas evolved, scientists say.

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Animals A-Z

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