Critters
June 24, 2024
Tarantulas Are Crawling Across Texas and Looking for Love
Compelled by an irresistible urge, male spiders emerge from their burrows every summer to wander over hillsides, roads, and lawns, seeking mates.
14 Articles
Critters
April 5, 2024
Undiscovered Insects Lurk in Plain Sight Across Texas. Meet the Newest: The Houston Tiger Beetle.
The jewel-toned bug may have been found just in time to save it, said Rice University biologist Scott Egan.
Critters
November 8, 2023
The Texas Indigo Snake Eats Rattlers for Breakfast
That’s why farmers and ranchers consider it a friend.
Being Texan
September 21, 2023
Austin’s Only Natural History Museum Nearly Went Extinct. Now It’s Back and Better Than Ever.
The newly renovated Texas Science and Natural History Museum (formerly the Texas Memorial Museum) opens September 23.
Critters
May 30, 2023
The Hell Pig, the Texas Titanosaur, and Seven Other Outlandish Beasts That Once Roamed Big Bend
West Texas is home to some of the world's most spectacular fossils, from the gentle moose camel to the fearsome tusked swamp beast.
Critters
April 24, 2023
Move Over, Snake Farm: Reptilandia Is the Hill Country’s Classy New Reptile Zoo
Ghostly axolotls float, sausage-fat skinks dive, and snakes slither in thoughtfully designed, naturalistic habitats at the new Johnson City zoo.
Critters
March 13, 2023
The Hunt for Wildcat Fossils in Central Texas
In a dark corner of Natural Bridge Caverns, near San Antonio, wildcat bones lay undisturbed for thousands of years. Scientists are just beginning to unlock their mysteries.
Critters
August 25, 2021
The Ugly Ducklings: Ten Lesser-Known Texas Endangered and At-Risk Species
These humble creatures don’t have the star power of ocelots and whooping cranes, but they’re just as crucial to their ecosystems.
Critters
June 9, 2021
Red Wolves Are on the Brink of Extinction, but a Texas Breeding Program May Help Them Make a Comeback
Fewer than twenty red wolves remain in the wild. At Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, biologists are trying to change that.
Best Thing in Texas
April 23, 2021
Whooping Cranes Are Nesting in Texas for the First Time in Over a Century
One of the rarest birds in North America is making a comeback.
Critters
April 23, 2021
The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of the Texas Ostrich Industry
In the ’90s, Texans lost their minds—and their shirts—investing in ostriches and emus. But some think the industry could take flight again.
Travel & Outdoors
December 8, 2020
Jupiter and Saturn Will Soon Align in a Rare Astronomical Marvel, and You Can Start Watching Now
With help from the McDonald Observatory in West Texas, we share seven beginner stargazing tips.
Critters
August 19, 2020
A Texas Program Has Achieved Remarkable Success in Protecting Rare Sea Turtles. So Why Does the National Park Service Want to Defund It?
The world’s most endangered sea turtle has made an impressive comeback, attracting thousands of visitors to North Padre Island, but now advocates say it may be at risk again.
News & Politics
July 9, 2020
Texas Scientists Discover That a Dinosaur Made Famous by ‘Jurassic Park’ Was Even More Formidable Than They Thought
Working together with the Navajo Nation—the first discoverers of dilophosaurus—UT paleontologists are revising our understanding of the “best-known worst-known” dinosaur.