Biodiversity

From a tunnel in Australia to the forests of California, these luminous spots around the world are best visited on moonless nights.

This 1991 experiment spawned a wave of new research about engineering, agriculture, and space exploration.

On an ordinary walk around Big Bend National Park, a park ranger and volunteer made a rare scientific discovery: an entirely new kind of plant.

The Succulent Karoo is home to desert plant species found nowhere else on the planet—criminal networks have been digging them up by the millions.

This tiny, fuzzy sunflower relative has been hiding in plain sight—it represents the first new genus identified in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years.

The eastern hellbender has thrived in clear Appalachian rivers and streams for more than 100 million years.

From fleeing mountain lions to scorched soil, the aftermath of intense fires shows an ecosystem transformed.

The Arctic facility is the world's largest safeguard for seeds—and fertile ground for critics and conspiracy theories.

Researchers exploring the country's threatened coastal habitats discovered 'staggering' biodiversity.

In Ecuador, Satanas the tarantula—named for his feisty attitude—became both teacher and friend to researchers.

A red velvet worm, jeweled corpse flower, and other rare species were found while retracing the route of the bloody 1911-12 Abor Expedition.

The project aims to make a complete 'bee atlas,' detailing every single local pollinator.

For these researchers in Southern Africa, tagging the apex predators starts with putting them in trancelike tonic immobility.