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Defector

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


Sabrina Imbler

a female spider next to a funnel-shaped hole in a web

Creaturefector

Drop Whatever You’re Doing Right This Instant, There’s Big Spider Web News

A pack of Nanotyrannus attacking a juvenile T. rex.

Let Us Now Celebrate Our Extinct Short King, Nanotyrannus

a photo of the microscopic flatworm Stenostomum simplex, which looks like a worm with green balls inside its body.

Exclusive! A Revealing And Not Made-Up Interview With A Two-Headed Worm

a spider with yellow stripes perched on a web decorated with stabilimenta

Why Do Some Spiders Make Web Art?

a photo of a brown basilisk lizard missing a forelimb sitting on a reed

Fat AND Sassy? A Three-Legged Lizard Really Can Have It All

a wild octopus americanus, arms unspooled and curling

Unlike Our Stupid Human Arms, Octopus Arms Are All Equally Beautiful And Talented

a spotted ratfish, which is a brownish fish with white spots and a white spot between its eyes

Why Not Have A Rod Of Teeth On Your Forehead For Sex Reasons?

two winged male ants: Messor ibericus (left) and Messor structor (right) against a black background

Everything You Need To Know About The Girlboss Ants That Give Birth To Another Species In Order To Exploit Their Offspring (Slay Ant Queen!)

A CVS pharmacy store on February 28, 2025 in San Diego, California

Science

How Are You Supposed To Get The COVID Vaccine Now? An Explainer

RFK Jr. Is Making His Bid To Become One Of American History’s Biggest Killers

a swarm of bumblebee catfish climbing the vertical rock of a waterfall

Where Are You Going, Fish?

Screwworm larva. Tusklike mandibles protruding from the screwworm larva's mouth rasp the flesh of living warm-blooded animals.

Make America Wormy Again

an illustration of two bats together, one with a rat. the next panel shows the two bats biting the rat together

Brother May I Have Some Rat

A photo of a green fla-necked chameleon posing against a swirly yellow and green background

Chameleons Endure Tiny Knock To Colorful Reputation

Mods Asleep

How Climate Change Is Transforming The Soundtrack Of The Natural World

a 3D-printed crab named Wavy Dave is waving his claw at a fiddler crab in the distance

The Brief Adventures Of Wavy Dave

Behold: A Surprisingly Beautiful Depiction Of Being Swallowed By A Toothy Penis Worm

the behind of a chimp named Juma, who is displaying a behavior called grass-in-rear, in which a strand of grass dangles from his rectum

Innovation Strikes In The Field Of Chimpanzee Rectum Adornment

a trio of chilean flamingos, with the Bills Week logo

Bills Week

Why Do Flamingos Eat So Weird?

Kathryn Xu

Common loon flapping its wings in the morning

Fatal Battles In Common Loons: A Subsequent Analysis

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees terminated after the Trump administration dismantled the agency collect their personal belongings at the USAID headquarters on February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. Thousands of (USAID) workers who have been fired or placed on leave have been given a 15 minutes window to clear out their workspace after the Trump administration, under the guidance of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shuttered the agency.

Interviews

Meet The Civil Servants Under Attack By The Trump Administration

a photo of Mary Giovagnoli, a fired Unaccompanied Children Ombuds

An Interview With A Fired Unaccompanied Children Ombuds

a headshot of Laura Mata López, a psychiatric nurse and doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University

An Interview With A Psychiatric Nurse Whose Research Funding Was Cut By The Trump Administration

Joy Binion, formerly a social science analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMSHA

An Interview With A Terminated Analyst At The Substance Abuse And Mental Health Administration

CT scan of the front of a skate, showing the hard, tooth-like denticles on its skin (shown in orange)