Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. When we think about the scope of our world’s diversity, ...

Everyone knows that animals come in all shapes and sizes, and millions of years ago, some of those animals were absolutely enormous. Today, if you look across the land of North America, the biggest ...

Louisiana is known for its giant gators, but the Marsh Island giant found in 1890 by Edward McIlhenny near the mouth of Vermilion Bay is the absolute champ of large alligators. The animal’s reported ...