Baby Octopus playing with a diver!

Check out these city-dwelling animals from the photo ark

EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL

The growing popularity of city parks have been beneficial for urban squirrel populations. These bushy-tailed mammals (Sciurus carolinensis) thrive off access to a wide range of nut trees.

These images are from the National Geographic Photo Ark, a mission to create a visual archive of the world’s species—before many of them disappear. To date, photographer Joel Sartore has already taken portraits of more than 6,000 animals. Learn more about how you can support the project.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

RACCOON

These adaptable creatures (Procyon lotor) are well accustomed to human settlement. They can use their nimble paws to pry open garbage cans and break into attic spaces for use as dens.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
DUNBAR, NEBRASKA

RED FOX

Human society has had a long and storied relationship with the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), with the canids playing a prominent role in many cultures’ mythologies. Red foxes increasingly feel as comfortable in cities as they do in the countryside—particularly in London.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

NORWAY RAT (BROWN RAT)

One of the most ubiquitous city-dwelling creatures, the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) can be found thriving in basically any human settlement. When living so close together, the daily interactions between urbanites and these rodents can be both awkward and comedic.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
ZOO ATLANTA

GIANT CANADA GOOSE

Changing weather patterns and increasing development have compelled these migratory birds to settle in parking lots and parks throughout North America. The noisy creatures (Branta canadensis maxima) have taken to human environments so well that some communities are seeking ways to humanely control their populations.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
SYLVAN HEIGHTS BIRD PARK

COYOTE PUPPIES

As rural coyote (Canis latrans) populations inflate, these clever beasts have begun appearing in densely populated cities. They have changed their behaviors to adapt to metropolitan areas—in Chicago, coyotes have become nocturnal to minimize contact with humans.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

ROCK DOVE (PIGEON)

These multihued birds have become established residents in cities worldwide. Often found together in flocks, pigeons (Columba livia) can be found roosting on the ledges of skyscrapers and feeding from handouts in city parks.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

MALE AND FEMALE MALLARD DUCKS

Human development has proven beneficial to mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). These waterfowl can pretty much make a home anywhere they can get access to a body of freshwater: fountains in urban parks, water hazards in golf courses, and even the courtyard of National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
NORTHWEST TREK WILDLIFE PARK

CALIFORNIA SEA LION

These aquatic mammals can be found lounging on seaside rocks along the Pacific coastline of the United States. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are quite comfortable living side by side with humans—one seal pup even wandered into a restaurant in San Diego.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
HOUSTON ZOO

BOBCAT

These evasive big cats are not often spotted by people, but bobcats (Lynx rufus) have been known to prowl the edges of human settlements hunting rodents and other small prey.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK
MILLER PARK ZOO

Bats, Jellyfish, and Other Animals With Daily Commutes

We humans aren't the only ones in the rat race.

Dragonfish (pictured, Malacosteus niger) have organs that allow them to produce their own light and camouflage themselves from predators.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SOLVIN ZANKL, ALAMY

Your commute may be bad, but at least you don’t have to worry about blood-sucking parasites.

French grunts, a tropical Atlantic fish, “are major movers and shakers on the [coral] reef,” says Paul Sikkel, a marine biologist at Arkansas State University.

This species undertakes daily migrations from coral reefs to food-rich seagrass beds, returning home to the reefs in the morning. (Unlike most fish, which have vertical migrations, grunts move horizontally through the ocean.)

During the grunts' trek—up to a kilometer long—they're highly susceptible to infestation by tiny, parasitic crustaceans called gnathiids. ("Meet 5 'Zombie' Parasites That Mind-Control Their Hosts.")

French grunt are a schooling fish that travel up to a kilometer each day in search of food.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE GRALL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

In part because gnathiids aren’t very active on the reef during the day, Sikkel wondered if the fish's nightly journeys help them avoid the parasite, which can be fatal.

In experiments published in March, Sikkel and colleagues found support for this hypothesis: Grunts forced to stay on the reef at night acquired five times more parasites than those that traveled on their usual commute. So, at least for grunts, commuting not only provides dinner, but also protection.

Here are some other animals that risk leaving home each day to bring home the bacon.

BIOLUMINESCENT CREATURES

Even the smallest marine animals—plankton—can make a big splash. The daily vertical migration of plankton from the ocean depths to the surface to feed may be the largest of its kind—at least in terms of biomass.

Bigger marine animals, such as fish, have nowhere to hide in the open ocean, so they have to make themselves as hard to see as possible, says marine biologist Edie Widder, founder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Florida.

That's why bioluminescent creatures, including krill, squid, lanternfish, and dragonfish, create their own light chemically through organs called photophores. This allows them to become "invisible": Lighting themselves against the bright background of the sunlit ocean makes their silhouettes disappear when predators lurking below look up.

“Bioluminescence is absolutely critical” for this camouflage, Widder says. (See "Glowing Sea Beasts: Photos Shed Light on Bioluminescence.")

Their light organs match the sunlight filtering into the ocean so perfectly that “if a cloud goes over the sun and dims the sunlight, they can dim their bioluminescence,” Widder says. “It’s a phenomenal adaptation.”

There's just one catch.

The amount of sunlight making its way into the water column dictates how high some bioluminescent species will migrate on any given day. They "can’t go beyond whatever their light levels allow them to"—which means most don't get too close to the surface, where it's sunnier, Widder says.

Krill, however, produce bright light, allowing them to travel to the surface and "get to the dinner buffet."

GREAT BLUE HERON

The average American commute ranges quite a bit, from under five miles in Stockton-Lod, California, to 12.8 miles in Atlanta, Georgia. Great blue herons can relate.

With a wing span of up to seven feet, great blue herons don't have many natural predators.

 
PHOTOGRAPH BY TIM LAMAN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

These birds may fly just a few yards or up to 20 miles away from their nests in search of food, says Charles Eldermire, bird cams project leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York.

These birds work alone, flying out solo in search of prey including snakes, fish, frogs, gophers or even small birds. They return periodically throughout the day if they have young to feed, but even when not breeding will roost in flocks of up to hundred—a strategy to keep safe from predators, he says.

With an impressive wingspan of nearly seven feet, great blues have few predators besides bald eagles. But this video shows a great horned owl taking its chances, attacking a nest at Cornell’s Sapsucker Woods.

GOLDEN JELLYFISH

The golden jellyfish of Palau's Jellyfish Lake are, in a sense, solar-powered animals.

The millions of golden jellyfish that pack Palau’s Jellyfish Lake spend much of their lives on the move during a daily migration that follows the sun’s arc across the sky.

 
PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL MELFORD

These jellies have zooxanthellae, algae-like organisms, living in their tissues. The zooxanthellae need sunlight to produce energy, so jellies follow the sun's progression across the sky around the lake each day.

When they reach the far side of the lake, the jellies turn back and follow the sun west again as it sets. In return, the zooxanthellae supply some of their energy and nutrients to the jellies.

Traffic on their commute has plummeted, though: Drought has significantly decreased the golden jelly population in recent years.

By Liz Langley

Watch a Spider Take Down a Scorpion Twice Its Size

The video was taken by a man in Australia who stumbled upon the battling critters in his bathroom.

By Sarah Gibbens

Of all the places to find a large spider battling an even bigger scorpion, a household bathroom has to be one of the more surprising.

When a man near Melbourne, Australia, came across the two creatures doing just that in his home, he grabbed a camera.

The scorpion can be seen dangling upturned from the spider's sticky web, wriggling its body and struggling to gain freedom. The spider suddenly enters and leaves the video frame, raising the stakes.

Paula Cushing, a curator of invertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, explains how such a spider can use its silk as a tool to take down a predator nearly twice its size. Once the scorpion's pincers and stinger are immobilized by the webbing, the spider can be seen biting through the scorpion's exoskeleton with its fangs, which it uses to inject the scorpion with an immobilizing venom.

Ohio University professor emeritus Jerome Rovner says this hunting style is known as "attack-wrapping."

"They first wrap the prey with silk to greatly immobilize it and only afterward do they bite the prey to inject venom to completely paralyze it," said Rovner. "Wrapping first is much safer, as the spider might be injured by the prey if it put its face close enough to it to bite at first."

The video also shows the spider's fourth pair of legs, which contain "comb-hairs." These structures are used to grasp the silk from its spinnerets to attach and wrap around its prey.

This sort of Spiderman-like attack-wrapping is a common feature found in spiders belonging to the family Pholcidae, which contains species such as what's often locally called daddy long legs, the species the filmmaker believed this spider to be. Pholcidae are more broadly referred to as cellar spiders for their propensity to turn up in household cellars. (Note: in North America and Europe, unrelated arachnids or even insects are often called daddy long legs.)

Rovner noted that cellars and basements are the most common part of a house in which these arachnids can be found, but they really prefer anywhere with a high amount of humidity—like any household bathroom.

FAVORITE IMAGES OF THE WEEK - 17

DEWDROP INSECT

Ondrej Pakan's gorgeous macro shots of insects bedecked with dewdrops are just about the prettiest shots of what are basically just wet bugs we've ever seen. See more here.

Ondrej Pakan

ROBOT, MEET HUMAN

Robonaut 2 has been around for a few years now, but we never get tired of its exploits. And this picture shows the R2 reaching out to touch a human. NASA notes that it and GM are working on new robotic gloves to assist astronauts and other workers.

NASA

SPIDER GUITAR

This intricate arachnophilic guitar body looks...cool, I guess, if you're into stuff like that. But what's more impressive to us is that the whole body was made with a 3-D printer. Read more here.

Olaf Diegel

BALL OF BEES

Japanese honeybees have an insane defensive ploy: they swarm around the predator (like, say, a hornet) so aggressively that the heat from their bodies actually cooks the predator. Read more here.

Wikimedia Commons

THE TITANIC, 100 YEARS LATER

The April 2012 issue of National Geographic has a cover story with incredible photos of the sunken Titanic, a hundred years after the wreck. Only the newest imaging technology has made these pictures possible. See them over at Nat Geo.

Walden Media