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Defector


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

a profile shot of a mummified saber-tooth kitten, which looks like a big brown cat

Creaturefector

This Saber-Toothed Kitten Mummy Is So Stinking Cute That I’m Gonna Cry!

WASHINGTON, DC - May 23: Laura Helmuth of The Washington Post via Getty Images poses for a portrait on Tuesday May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Science

Do Not Accept An Unscientific American

Ray Ratto

Patrick Redford

a still for the netflix movie hot frosty: lacey chabert in a beanie stands in front of a sexy snowman, holding a scarf

Arts And Culture

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘Hot Frosty’

a pygmy seahorse that is red and pink with little bumps on its body hides in a coral that looks exactly like it

A Small And Beautiful Seahorse Reveals An Even Smaller And Reclusive Worm

a mossy stick insect of the species Trychopeplus mashpiensis dangling from some moss

Mossy Stick Insect STUNS In New Photos

Two elephants interacting with a water hose. one is attempting to shower with it and the other is gripping it tightly in her trunk

The Shower Beef Between Elephant Mary And Elephant Anchali, Explained

Creature Drops: A Big Baby From Patagonia

A black-and-white photo of a partial skeleton at the bottom of a rocky well

This Week In Skeletons

Animals

Everything You Might Want To Know About Peanut, The Squirrel Star Turned MAGA Martyr

a giant red-eyed tree frog sculpture at the rainforest cafe

Life's Rich Pageant

Who Lives At The Rainforest Cafe?

A screenshot of two blonde women looking at each other, one playing the slots, in a 60s-era casino

Risk Week

If You Don’t Play, You Can’t Win

In this aerial view, a person walks through flood waters that inundated a neighborhood after Hurricane Milton came ashore on October 10, 2024, in Punta Gorda, Florida. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in the Siesta Key area of Florida, causing damage and flooding throughout Central Florida.

Climate

What Can We Learn From Back-To-Back Monster Hurricanes Helene And Milton?

a small shelled cephalopod known as a paper nautilus or an argonaut drifting in the dark ocean on a little yellow piece of litter

The Argonaut Octopus Has Mastered The Free Ride

A gelatinous organism called a ctenophore with two rear ends

When Two Rear Ends Are Better Than One

one male yellow desert locust sitting on top of a brown female desert locust

Get Yourself A Mate Who Will Be Your Sex Umbrella

an adult Taiwanese tree frog inside a bamboo chute

Have You Considered Just Not Pooping?

a red fish called a sea robin, which has big fins and six stick-like "legs" that it uses to walk on the seafloor

This Fish Has A Leg Up On The Competition

Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, reacts to a zookeeper at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)

Tiny Hippo Went Extinct Because It Was Not As Cute As Moo Deng, Probably

three photos of subadult male northern elephant seals, one named Brian, one named Dennis, and one named Carl

The Gang’s All Here!

a close-up of a green skink with its tongue out

Skink Outside The Box

two small brown hexapods called globular springtails jump. off a white surface and spin into the air, against a purple background.

Meet The Round Little Gymnasts In Your Backyard

two penguins stand in front of an inflatable rainbow arch in a penguin enclosure

Sphen The Gay Penguin Broke The Ice

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, circa 2015. General view at dusk with the Moon above the stones. (Photo by English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Extremely Heavy And Incredibly Far; Or, The Saga Of The Strangest Rock At Stonehenge

A yellowish lizard called the Jamaican giant galliwasp curled up in a jar of preservative

How A 170-Year-Old Lizard Finally Came Home To Jamaica

A neopet dragon broods over its hoard of gold.