Nature
From the tiniest single-celled organisms to the giants that roam the Earth, the animal kingdom is one that fascinates us all. Every day we learn more about the creatures we share the planet with, all 1.5 million-plus of them, and that's just the ones we have discovered so far. Whether we keep them as pets, eat them for food or study them for science, our relationship with animals is complex, but is part of the very nature of what makes us human.

What is the deadliest creature in the UK?

Man’s best friend? Yeah, right.
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Nature’s weirdest: This honking hammerhead bat has the world’s strangest nostrils

Meet the honking bat that looks like a cross between a horse and Yoda.
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A dazzling new side of nature: The 20 best photos of British wildlife 2024

Take a look at this amazing set of images from the latest British Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
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How do peanuts grow?

Peanuts have an alias: Ground nuts. And here’s how they got it.
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Male mammals aren’t bigger than females after all - new study

New research reveals that, for most mammal species, males and females are evenly sized.
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How the battle of the sexes left the duck with an awkwardly long, corkscrew-shaped penis

Both male and female ducks have evolved bizarre genitals.
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If we want to beat plastic pollution, recycling will never be enough

OPINION | Photographs of hermit crabs using discarded bottle caps as shells highlights the extent of the global plastic pollution problem.
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How animals speak to each other

Fun fact: Dolphins give themselves names.
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The (very very weird) reasons cat lick people

Sorry, it's not because they secretly love you.
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The world's hidden hedgehog crisis

Why their numbers are falling – and how we can help them recover.
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The longest living animals on Earth 2024

From mole rats to Greenland sharks, here are the creatures with unusually large lifespans.
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Tinkering with nature: Billions of engineered mosquitos are getting released into the wild to fight disease

The World Mosquito Project wants to eradicate dengue fever by infecting female mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria.
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14 very very small Close Up Photographer of the Year winners that deserve a huge applause

Includes teeny ants firing a lot of acid, a jumping stick, and an eel heart.
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Why bug-fed farm animals could become humanity’s new protein source

Despite being a nutritious and sustainable food source, insects have yet to find their way onto our plates in a significant way. But these farms in Italy have found another, more palatable, way to use the protein in bugs: by turning it into animal feed.
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Why new climate breakthroughs mean you should have (some) hope in 2024

Forget the disheartening headlines, 2023 has seen stories of true hope for the planet's future.
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World’s weirdest: Meet the Christmas tree worm, the creature covered in feeding tentacles

Meet the bizarre underwater worm that looks like a Christmas decoration and sees through its gills.
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The mysterious sex life of eels: How scientists finally unveiled their (truly bizarre) life cycle

Long, silvery and mysterious, these endangered fish make a big journey to reproduce.
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