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Texas Scientists Discover That a Dinosaur Made Famous by ‘Jurassic Park’ Was...
Nine miles north of the University of Texas at Austin, in a three-story, gray concrete building on the satellite J.J. Pickle Research Campus, there is an archive. In the archive there is a cabinet, and...
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A Texas Program Has Achieved Remarkable Success in Protecting Rare Sea...
The Kemp’s ridley sea turtles begin arriving at Padre Island National Seashore in April, waves breaking against their olive-colored shells, salt spraying from their nostrils as they haul themselves up...
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Jupiter and Saturn Will Soon Align in a Rare Astronomical Marvel, and You Can...
It hasn’t happened in nearly four hundred years. Over the course of the last month, the great gas giants Jupiter and Saturn have been approaching each other in the night sky. On Monday, December 21—the...
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The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of the Texas Ostrich Industry
When the ostrich reached in to nip at his collar, Boyd Clark bopped it gently in the face with his cowboy hat. The bird drew back, seemingly affronted. The rest of Clark’s flock of yearlings—each...
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Whooping Cranes Are Nesting in Texas for the First Time in Over a Century
WHO: Two pairs of whooping cranes, one of the world’s most endangered birds.WHAT: The animals are laying eggs in Texas—on private land in Jefferson and Chambers counties, east of Houston—for the first...
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Red Wolves Are on the Brink of Extinction, but a Texas Breeding Program May...
The wolf is already moving when Jason Ahistus opens the gate, a gray-orange shadow slipping silently through the brush on long, loping legs. Ahistus steps inside easily, shutting the gate behind him....
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The Ugly Ducklings: Ten Lesser-Known Texas Endangered and At-Risk Species
The majestic ocelot, the vibrantly colored aplomado falcon, the otherworldly Barton Springs salamander: Texas’s diverse ecosystems are teeming with specialized and spectacular animals, many of which...
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The Hunt for Wildcat Fossils in Central Texas
There were many ways to die underground during the Ice Age in Central Texas. Sinkholes in the karst hills, slick-sided and treacherous, swallowed unwary animals. Saber-toothed cats dragged their prey...
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Move Over, Snake Farm: Reptilandia Is the Hill Country’s Classy New Reptile Zoo
On a Greek mountainside, the adders are courting. Two red-brown male snakes, their noses tipped with tiny horns, wave their heads at a female in sinuous attempts at seduction. Through the glass and...
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The Hell Pig, the Texas Titanosaur, and Seven Other Outlandish Beasts That...
Perhaps nowhere in Texas do the past and present touch as in Big Bend National Park. Sometimes called “Texas’s Gift to the Nation,” the 800,000-acre West Texas wonderland might also be called Texas’s...
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Austin’s Only Natural History Museum Nearly Went Extinct. Now It’s Back and...
Walk toward the marble front steps of the building formerly known as the Texas Memorial Museum, and you’ll be greeted by a saber-toothed cat perched on a rock. Its jaws open around scimitar fangs, and...
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The Texas Indigo Snake Eats Rattlers for Breakfast
The indigo snake appeared without a sound. It was the summer of 2020, and the trails around the visitor center of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, seventeen miles northeast of the Lower...
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Undiscovered Insects Lurk in Plain Sight Across Texas. Meet the Newest: The...
In the 1970s, Stephen J. Roman was working as a juvenile corrections officer in the Houston area and hunting for beetles in his spare time. He was especially excited about tiger beetles, a diverse...
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Tarantulas Are Crawling Across Texas and Looking for Love
As Texas critters go, the brown tarantula—Aphonopelma hentzi, if you’re feeling fancy—is not a widely beloved creature. Spiders suffer from public relations issues at the best of times, and larger...
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