Possessing trunks that contain about 40,000 individual muscles, African elephants act as keystone species by trampling and clearing trees, making pathways in forests, digging water holes, and spreading seeds.

As environmental engineers—a main type of keystone species—prairie dogs support over 150 other species through their grazing habits and burrowing of underground tunnels, which serve as habitats for owls, snakes, ferrets, insects, and other organisms.

Relative to its size, the world's strongest animal is the dung beetle, which can lift over 1,100 times its body weight, though the African bush elephant can lift the most weight among animals.

Some mosquitoes are key pollinators—and eat disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Watch wild elephants 'mourn' their dead

Wild elephants in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya visited their dead matriarch's body weeks after her death and displayed behaviors that researchers are hesitant to call "mourning" though they do believe the animals are displaying a specific reaction in response to the death. The video shows elephants using their trunks to touch and explore the carcass while standing in place for extended periods, which is uncommon for the animals.

A collection of fascinating facts about the planet and its creatures

You may have already heard that cheetahs are the fastest animals on land, but did you know that Savannah elephants are the strongest? This page on the World Wildlife Fund's UK website features a diverse range of articles on mammals, underwater creatures, birds, reptiles, insects, and landscapes. Discover captivating information about Earth and the creatures you share it with.

Although ecologists have struggled to identify a species as a keystone—one of outsized importance to its ecosystem—an analysis of 50 years of data and 157 studies identified 230 such species.

Fig trees are considered keystone species because they provide year-round habitat and fruit, which are eaten by an estimated 1,300 species of birds and mammals worldwide.

Some animals seem to live well on little sleep

African bush elephants typically sleep for about 2 hours per 24-hour day, coming in well under a human's recommended seven-hour minimum. Other animals also appear to skimp on sleep, by human standards, without the consequences humans associate with being sleep deprived. This academic article details the sleeping habits of animals that appear to thrive on fewer than 40 winks and explores whether their sleep processes are just built different.

The jaguar is the largest feline in the Americas and serves as a keystone species by acting as an apex predator with a diverse diet across multiple environments, thereby regulating the populations of dozens of species.

While invasive species typically harm ecosystems by outcompeting native organisms for resources, some provide unexpected benefits, including new shelters, nesting habitats, and reduced environmental heat stress.

Keystone species with average lifespans exceeding a century, oak trees support more organisms than any other North American tree genus by providing ecosystems with pollen, shelter, and nutrient-rich acorns.

By targeting a diverse range of sick and injured marine life, sharks—a type of predatory keystone species—help keep ocean gene pools healthy and promote biodiversity by keeping prey species in check.

In Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves act as keystone predators by controlling elk and deer populations, which had previously overgrazed and disrupted river systems that supported many more mammal, fish, and avian species.

The giant African harvester ant is rising in popularity as a pet and fueling illegal global trade, with creatures sometimes costing as much as $220.

Able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes, beavers are considered keystone species via their construction of dams and formation of wetlands, which serve as homes and food sources for fish, birds, insects, and other animals.

Humans may be the ultimate invasive species

Originating in East Africa, Homo sapiens migrated across the world beginning about 60,000 years ago and directly harmed countless species by consuming resources and modifying ecosystems to serve our needs. While meeting the definition of an invasive species, some ecologists argue the opposite, claiming that humans have helped preserve numerous species.

Some animals, including certain tropical ants, have little or no microbial populations in their gut, upending the idea that all animals rely on this ecosystem to help maintain their health and proper functioning.

Zoo animals have developed allergies, too

Although scientists do not know if allergies manifest among wild animals—and if animals can survive with them—in a zoo setting, veterinarians have observed zoo animals with common allergy symptoms, including itchiness, crusty skin, and runny eyes. Veterinarians have identified Asian elephants with pollen allergies and at least one jaguar with an allergy to fleas.

Research suggests ants are the most abundant insect on the planet, with an estimated 2.5 million of them for every human on Earth.

Microbial research suggests shifts in diverse populations may help an invasive species establish itself

In 1958, English ecologist Charles Elton suggested that diverse ecosystems should be more resistant to invasive species because gaining a foothold would be more challenging when resources are more thinly spread. However, in lab-grown microbial ecosystems with greater biodiversity, population volatility opened more ecological roles that invasive species could easily fill.

Large animals like giraffes and elephants have evolved unique cancer defenses.

Contributing to one in every three bites of food consumed by humans, bees are a keystone species because of their essential role as pollinators of about 80% of all flowering plants worldwide.

During a trophic cascade, the disappearance of a keystone species, which plays an indispensable role in ecosystems, triggers a domino effect within food webs that disrupts the populations of many more species.

Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest

Indigenous people have unrivalled knowledge of plants and animals and play a crucial role in conserving biodiversity. Protecting their rights preserves this unique knowledge.

Microforests in urban environments may help combat climate change

Areas of densely packed native trees and drought-tolerant plants within cities can pull carbon dioxide from the air, cool surrounding neighborhoods, and support local wildlife. The idea behind microforests traces back over 50 years to Japanese ecologist Dr. Akira Miyawaki, who promoted planting whole ecosystems to restore degraded land.

Invasive species can harm infrastructure and threaten human health

The wildfires in Hawaii in 2022 were made worse by flammable invasive grasses introduced from Africa as livestock pasture, and Zebra mussels native to the Caspian and Black Seas have spread across Europe and the US, where they can clog power plant pipes. Invasive mosquitoes can carry diseases, such as dengue and malaria.

Why giant sequoias need fire to grow

Giant sequoias are the largest trees on Earth, living for upward of 3,000 years—and without fire, they couldn't reproduce. Regular fires help create space in the forest, while its heat opens up the sequoia cones, releasing the seeds onto the newly...

Over 1 million fish, marine mammals, and invertebrate species depend on coral reefs for habitats, camouflage, and food.

Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet, storing almost twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and all living plants and animals combined.

Bees are crucial for pollination and food security

When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread it, they allow plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. The most common pollinator is the bee, but bees are at risk from pollution and pesticides.

The purpose of narwhal tusks has mystified researchers for centuries

Nicknamed the "unicorn of the sea," narwhals have no teeth aside from two canines that grow directly forward as tusks. For roughly 85% of females, they stay embedded in the bone. For males, they grow into large, spirally tusks that are full of nerve endings and blood vessels. Scientists today believe that tusks likely formed for sexual selection purposes and eventually evolved to assist in other processes, such as hunting.

Invasive species may harm new ecosystems via the spread of disease

Besides damaging native species through direct interactions such as competition for resources and predation, invasive species may come from environments with greater biodiversity than the new environment. This makes them more likely to carry pathogens unfamiliar to native species, increasing the risk of biodiversity loss.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as of 2025, there are over 18,000 endangered animal species worldwide, with the share of fish, insects, mollusks, and reptiles increasing since 2007.

These animals are only found in the Amazon rainforest.

The mighty Amazon River and its surrounding rainforest is home to millions of different species of animals, with new ones being discovered regularly.

Fungi have been used to restore island habitats in the central Pacific

After removing 1.5 million invasive coconut palm trees and eradicating the black rats that fed on them, as well as seabirds and crabs, conservationists working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service identified areas where fungi could be transplanted to provide nutrients to native trees. These trees serve as nesting sites for seabirds whose guano nourishes coral reefs.

Three Ebola species are responsible for most large outbreaks of the disease.

Fungi can cause disease, but they’re also our planet’s key decomposers

Fungi are their own taxonomic kingdom separate from flora and fauna, acting as the key decomposers and nutrient recyclers for our planet. Watch this video to understand the diverse types of fungi and the stages of the fungal life cycle. This video illustrates how fungi species may spread, eat nematode worms, damage nearby plants, and much more.

Watch how wild animals are projected into a mall

Centered around a dynamic, ever-changing watering hole, the experience allows you to meet a diverse range of animals from Africa to the Arctic as they graze, drink, and interact with the environment around them.

Even in nature reserves, climate change is driving rapid ecological collapse

Studies show a dramatic decline in insect populations, resulting in cascading global biodiversity losses across non-insect species. The balances in tropical ecosystems are the most affected by climate change.

A day in the life of a leafcutter ant

Among the fascinating world of insects, leafcutter ants form some of the most complex and dynamic social ecosystems. All part of an effort to keep a colony alive, worker ants toil tirelessly, dragging bits of leaves and vegetation back to their...

A collection of the world's best live animal cams

What are the animals up to? If you're too busy to get to the zoo today, you can take a quick glance at this site, which aggregates dozens of live feeds of animals from around the world. See elephants, bald eagles, and puppies all in one place—but...

Without dinosaurs, plants could produce fleshy fruits with bigger seeds

Previously disturbed by massive herbivores, denser and darker forests shifted plant evolution, reaching the greatest diversity of seed sizes, fruit sizes, and fruit types about 50 million years ago.

View the biggest threats to biodiversity, according to the World Wildlife Fund, led by changes to species' environments, species overexploitation, and invasive species.

Environmental DNA monitoring can help detect the presence of invasive species

Genetic material that organisms deposit into water, soil, or air can be identified by analyzing samples from each environment, allowing land managers to more reliably detect and track organisms than visual surveys alone. eDNA has been used to develop early warning surveillance systems for various invasive marine species.

Across the animal kingdom, parenting can include adults carrying their young, providing their bodies for sustenance, searching for food and shelter for their children, and separating siblings who may eat one another.

Benign species can become invasive if introduced into predator-free habitats

Most ecosystems contain organisms that, over many generations, have evolved into a stable balance with one another and their surroundings. In a new environment, a species may no longer be restricted by the limiting factors it is used to, and the native organisms in the area may not adapt quickly enough to the invader to establish a new balance.

Electrogenic animals generate their own electricity within an electric organ by changing the pattern of electrical charges in disc-shaped cells called electrocytes.

As part of the up to 15 pounds of seafood they consume daily, sea otters eat urchins that feed on kelp forests—sources of shelter and food to over 800 species—thereby making the marine mammal a keystone species.

Tree rings can reveal centuries of environmental change and natural events

The width and shape of tree rings reflect yearly growth conditions like rainfall or snowfall. Scars in the rings can record disruptions such as fires, avalanches, or earthquakes, explaining when and how those events occurred.

Desert wildlife: diverse, threatened, and misunderstood

This article sheds light on the surprisingly diverse wildlife that thrive in deserts, while also highlighting the gaps in human understanding of these ecosystems. Deserts are home to one-quarter of terrestrial vertebrate species—three percent of...