Known for their 6-foot-long necks, distinctive patterning and long eyelashes, giraffes have always captured the human imagination. These amazing African animals have the highest blood pressure among ...

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Plastic accumulating in our oceans and on our beaches has become a global crisis. Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world's ocean ...

Black abalone were once the most abundant large shellfish clinging to the rocks of intertidal zones between Baja and Oregon. A savored delicacy for sea otters and native coastal people alike, these ...

The spring pygmy sunfish has been teetering on the brink of extinction for the 70-plus years it's been known to science. Existing only in one spring complex in the Tennessee River watershed in Alabama ...

The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010 spilled 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 tons of methane into the Gulf of Mexico. Only about 25 percent of the oil was recovered, leaving more than ...

Critical habitat is key to the survival of endangered species. In fact, a study by the Center found, plants and animals with federally protected critical habitat are more than twice as likely to be ...

A slumbering Arctic fox in winter will wrap its long, bushy tail around its body for added warmth. Its feet are covered in dense fur to insulate against the cold and provide traction on the ice.

Found only in Northern California's Clear Lake and its tributaries, the Clear Lake hitch isn't your average-sized minnow: It weighs in at almost a pound. Hitch migrate each spring, when adults make ...

Undisturbed forests are crucial for a healthy climate, continuously taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in trees, shrubs and soil. But logging can transform a swath of forest from ...

Gentle and playful marine mammals, Florida manatees have come to represent the amazing biodiversity of Florida. With their large size, slow-moving nature, and fondness of seagrass, it's easy to see ...

For every county in the United States, the map below shows information on all the animals and plants protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered. To see the number of ...