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Defector

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


Sabrina Imbler

A somewhat haunting magenta sphere with what appears to be a mouth and a series of spikes. this is a reconstruction of the ancient creature Saccorhytus

Creaturefector

Was This Half-Billion-Year-Old Wrinkled Sack With No Anus, Previously Believed To Be Our Earliest Ancestor, Actually A Baby Penis Worm?

Germanic warrior taking stimulants imagined by Stanislav(Stanisław) Kontny,

History

Veni, Vidi, Snorti: I Came, I Saw, I Did A Bump

Life reconstruction of Ninumbeehan dookoodukah in a palaeoenvironment reconstruction depicting its life and burrowing across seasons. (a) Ninumbeehan is resting on the edge of a river with a low water table as the wet season ends. (b) A small community of Ninumbeehan are in their estivation burrows at the apex of the arid season. (c) The onset of the humid season brings rain, triggering a mass emergence of Ninumbeehan from their estivation burrows.

How A Sleepy Ancient Amphibian Became A Link To An Endangered Language

Dave McKenna

A still from a movie. a white woman in a red coat and a red beanie stands in front of a dilapidated house that needs fixing up.

Arts And Culture

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘’Tis The Season To Be Irish’

An Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) licks nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa). the wolf is really into it

These Beautiful Wolves Are Freaks For Nectar


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Kelsey McKinney

Drew 'Gonzo' Gonville is at the bottom of the steps of a private jet, dressed in a Santa suit. The beard is pulled down. Bowyn Sykes is dressed in a sleeveless sweater top and a kilt-like skirt. She is on the top step of the airstairs into the private jet. They are looking at each other.

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘Christmas In The Spotlight’

A gif of a green fruit that looks like a cucumber shooting out many small wet seeds.

Science

The Secret Lives Of Squirting Cucumbers

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

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)

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

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)