Black mamba

AUSTRALIA HAS A REPUTATION for being full of deadly wildlife – and with good reason. The vast antipodean island is home to an impressive list of dangerous critters. Sharks, spiders and snakes get most

YOU’LL KNOW ALL ABOUT IT IF you get stung by a bullet ant (Paraponera clavata), a species named after the fact that the pain from its venom feels as if it has been inflicted by a gunshot. Some insect

THE CONGO RAINFOREST IS ONE of the most biologically rich and ecologically important places on Earth. Stretching across six countries and spanning more than two million km², it’s home to more than 400

THERE WOULD BE LITTLE POINT IN having the ability to lethally poison a predator if you accidentally poisoned yourself and ended up just as dead. In the case of poison dart frogs, they dodge being pois

This week’s dream: the forest of rock in ...

POND DIPPING IN SOUTH AMERICA IS surprising, mainly because it isn’t that different from pond dipping in a British ditch. There are familiar faces in the water: beetles, pond skaters, water boatmen, d