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"The Travellers’ Tour Through the United States" is the earliest known board game to depict a map of the U.S.
games

5 Tales of Bizarre Holiday Gift-Giving

From elephants and hippos to fanfiction and sheep-shearing cake—what are you gifting this year?
Roxanne Hoorn December 5, 2024
Because chimpanzees primarily eat fruit, they also ingest a lot of alcohol.
monkeys

The Booze-Soaked Lives of Wild Animals

Not only is alcohol consumed widely in nature, it may have played a role in human evolution.
Andrew Coletti December 3, 2024
This pygmy hippo at the 1939 World's Fair Firestone exhibit was probably Gumdrop I, Billy's first surviving calf.
zoos

Before Moo Deng, There Was ‘William Johnson Hippopotamus’

During the Roaring ’20s, the American National Zoo welcomed the first pygmy hippo superstar.
Andrew Coletti November 25, 2024
Alresford, England

Grave of Hambone Jr.

This grave remembers the beloved canine companion of soldiers far from home.
Bear 409, “Beadnose,” a sow that won Fat Bear Week in 2018. GIS specialist Joel Cusick is pioneering a new technique for calculating the bears’ weight that doesn’t disrupt their normal activity.
animals

Fat Bears and 5 Other Stories of Preparing for Winter

From big-bottomed ants to gorging on salmon, there are plenty of ways to be ready for the cold months ahead.
Roxanne Hoorn November 15, 2024
Glowworm Tunnel, Australia
caves

10 Places That Glow

The Earth puts on a massive rave.
Atlas Obscura November 12, 2024
Shrine to Hachikō.
List

11 Graves of Famous Animals

From spacefaring monkeys to celebrity dogs to Antarctic-exploring cats.
Roxanne Hoorn November 8, 2024
El Médano, Spain

'Vertebración y Desvertebración'

These sandstone replicas of a whale spine represent the history and culture of the Canary Islands.
Odate, Japan

‘Homesick Hachiko’

Another statue of Japan's most famous dog stands in his hometown.
witchcraft

Were the Salem Witch Trials Ruff on Dogs?

The 17th-century event claimed at least 25 human lives. Whether any dogs were killed is unclear—but accusations against them had a familiar theme.
Bridget Marshall October 21, 2024
Hagerman, Idaho

Hagerman Fossil Beds

An ordinary rancher stumbled upon one of the world’s largest collections of Pliocene horse fossils.
List

13 Surprising Places to Find Taxidermy

Outside museum halls, real stuffed animals call these odd spots home.
Roxanne Hoorn October 11, 2024
The Cù Sith, an otherworldly hound of Scottish folklore, and its Irish counterpart the Cù Sidhe are sometimes described as green, the color associated with magic—and misfortune.
animals

Death as a Dog: The Cù Sith of Scotland

The spectral, terrifying dog of Scottish folklore has inspired many a nightmare for centuries—and likely for millennia.
Emma Cieslik October 9, 2024
Grand Forks, British Columbia

Alpine Taxidermy & Wildlife Museum

A curated collection of hundreds of taxidermy animals from across British Columbia, Canada, and the rest of the world.
dinosaurs

Was ‘Dracula’ the Biggest Flying Creature Ever?

In prehistoric Transylvania, a giant darkened the skies.
Andrew Coletti October 3, 2024
Topi
List

6 Places to See Amazing Animal Migrations This Fall

Monarchs and antelopes are on the move—here's where you can get a good view!
Roxanne Hoorn September 20, 2024
Horses supported travel, communication, agriculture, and warfare across much of the ancient world.
animals

The First Horse Domestication Was Later Than We Thought

Where and when did horses become our helpers? Science has some new and surprising answers.
William Taylor September 16, 2024
The more we try to keep raccoons out of our trash bins, the better they get at breaking in.
animals

Can You Outsmart a Raccoon?

Recent studies show just how tricky these trash pandas can be, from opening locks to nabbing DoorDash orders.
Roxanne Hoorn August 30, 2024