In recent years, seals along the California coast have been found with wounds indicating they'd been attacked by large shortfin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) measuring over 12 feet (3.6 m) long. 

Shortfin makos tend to grow to around 7 feet (2.1 m) long, on average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But they can get much bigger. In the 1950s, off the coast of Turkey, fishers reeled in a mako measuring over 19 feet (5.8 m) long. 

In the new Shark Week show "Makozilla," shark biologist and wildlife presenter Craig O'Connell went looking for supersized makos to find out if only one shark had grown to a mammoth size, or if the individuals in the North Pacific population are now much larger than they once were. 

Related: Watch hammerhead sharks swim in 'cyclones' around ancient volcano in rare footage

"Are there more absolutely massive makos out there, and how are they related?" O'Connell told Live Science. "Is it one particular family of makos, or is this a characteristic of the entire population along the coast of California?"

Through a series of experiments, the team gathered bite impressions on bait and measured the animals as they swam alongside the boat. One shark was at least 12 feet (3.7 m) long, while an analysis of the bite marks revealed another was at least 14 feet (4.3 m) long.

A final test involved getting tissue samples from another 12-foot mako. This was then compared with DNA from "The Beast" and another large mako caught years earlier. The results showed that the sharks were related — but it was unclear how closely related they were, such or whether they were direct descendants. Inbreeding among the population may explain the link, the team said. 

However, these makos may be bigger than average because of how much food is available off the West Coast. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 prevented the killing of seals and sea lions, resulting in a buffet for sharks.

"Basically, what we learned is that this characteristic of getting absolutely massive is a characteristic of the general population along the California coastline," O'Connell said. "To me, that's an exciting thing. It means that there's a lot of very big makos out there … and they have the ability to control the entire ecosystem."

The risk, he said, is that fishers are currently allowed to catch two makos per day — a rule that could potentially have devastating consequences for this healthy population. 

"I think it's critically important for people to understand that we need these sharks in the marine environment," he said. "I like to think of the ocean as a giant Jenga puzzle [tower] and the sharks represent that critical piece. If you remove that piece, that Jenga puzzle is going to collapse. And I just think people need to recognize that these animals are super, super important and we should really do everything in our power to protect them."

 "Makozilla" premieres at 10 pm ET on Discovery.  

These matriarchal groups are usually led by the oldest and wisest individuals. Female leadership has mostly evolved in mammals, which tend to live longer and have fewer offspring than other types of animals. Animals with female leaders are those where females have a disproportionate influence on the collective behavior of group members, according to a 2020 study in the journal The Leadership Quarterly.

Female leadership takes a variety of forms. Females of some species, such as bonobos and spotted hyenas, rule by forging alliances and coordinating attacks against males, while others, like African savanna elephants and orcas, dominate through their wisdom.

So, without further ado, here are six examples of animals with female bosses.

African savanna elephants

The African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest elephant species and the biggest terrestrial animal on Earth. According to WWF, these elephants roam across sub-Saharan Africa in family units composed of around 10 females and their young. Often, these family units join to form "clans" of several hundred elephants that are headed by a single female matriarch. This leadership role is usually assigned to the oldest and most experienced female of the group.

The matriarch makes decisions about where the herd goes, how to respond to threats and crises, and when and where to settle down to sleep. She also leads the elephants to food and water, which is no small task, given that African savanna elephants require around 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of vegetation and up to 50 gallons (190 liters) of water per day to maintain their humongous size.

Related: Elephants say 'hello' to friends by flapping their ears and making little rumbly noises

But the matriarch's wisdom and authority do not necessarily make her an autocrat, according to the nonprofit organization Elephant Voices. Other members of the group can make suggestions and influence where the elephants move to, for example. There can also be conflict between females, and this sometimes bubbles over when the matriarch dies and leaves behind a power vacuum.

Male African savanna elephants associate with female-led herds only during the mating season.

Spotted hyenas

The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a highly social and intelligent species. Like African savanna elephants, spotted hyenas hang out in female-led clans that can include anywhere between six and 90 hyenas. Female spotted hyenas aren't much bigger than their male counterparts, but they are far more aggressive and may therefore wield more power. Females also have a pseudopenis — an elongated clitoris that is so large, it looks like a penis — and lack a vaginal opening, meaning they look almost identical to males. As a result of their anatomy, female spotted hyenas have total control over who they mate with. When they choose to mate, females retract their pseudopenis to form an opening into which males can insert their penis.

Female spotted hyenas assert their dominance through aggressive behaviors, as well as by banding together, research has shown. Females receive much more social support in hyena clans than males do, meaning females are more likely to command and "win" interactions between the two sexes. Disparities in social support arise because male spotted hyenas leave their natal clan when they reach puberty. The social bonds they create when they join a new clan are weaker than those of females that have grown up together. 

Orcas

Orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, are one of the ocean's top predators. They live in matriarchal societies, with separate pods made up of a female, her offspring and her offspring's offspring. Pods consist of a few to more than 20 male and female orcas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Several pods may join together in big groups to socialize, hunt or mate — but eventually, orcas always return to their natal pods.

Orcas rely on fellow pod members for survival. For example, killer whales were observed catching food to feed a pod member that was missing two fins, the Daily Mail reported. But it's the females that do the heavy lifting: Orca mothers often look after their sons well into adulthood by hunting for them and guiding them around, even if it affects the mother's chances of reproduction. Older females are also responsible for leading the pod to food and for teaching their young new skills that help them survive.

Related: Orcas 'attacking' boats are actually just bored teenagers having fun, experts say

Orcas are one of just a handful of species that go through menopause, which frees up time for older females to care for their grandchildren. Research has shown that a grandmother's care significantly increases the survival of her grandkids and that the death of a grandmother, on the other hand, leads to increased mortality in these youngsters. The evolution of menopause in killer whale societies also guarantees that there is no competition for mates between older and younger related females. 

Bonobos

Bonobos (Pan paniscus), together with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), are our closest living relatives. Bonobos live in large social groups composed of males and females, but unlike chimp groups, bonobo communities are led by females. Females resolve conflicts through sexual contact. To console the victim of a fight, for example, a female embraces the victim and swings her hips from side to side to make genital contact. Sexual contact is thought to regulate stress in bonobos and to alleviate tension among members of the group so that they can cohabit peacefully.

Female bonobos disperse when they reach sexual maturity and emigrate to new groups, while males stay in their natal group. In their new groups, females use sex to quickly form strong social bonds with unrelated — and often higher-status — females. They nurture these bonds throughout their lives and use them to orchestrate attacks against males. By asserting their dominance in this way, female bonobos secure their access to high-quality food, which boosts their reproductive success, and deter unwanted sexual behavior from males.

Honeybees

Honeybees (Apis) are famously led by a single adult queen. These bees live in giant colonies of tens of thousands of female workers that build the nest, forage for food and look after the brood. Workers are sexually underdeveloped and don't lay eggs. Only the queen can reproduce, and she does so with the help of several hundred male "drones" that join the colony only through late spring and summer. Drones have no stinger, wax glands or pollen baskets; their main purpose is to fertilize the queen's eggs, after which they drop dead, according to the University of Delaware.

Related: Do bees really die if they sting you?

A honeybee queen guarantees the survival of the colony by laying up to 250,000 eggs per year and possibly more than 1 million in her lifetime, according to the University of Delaware. (Queens can live up to five years.) She is also responsible for maintaining the colony by producing a pheromone that unifies the hive and gives it an individual "identity," which keeps her workers loyal. To perform her duties and in return for her hard work, the queen needs constant attention and a steady supply of royal jelly — a nutritionally dense, milky substance produced by female workers. The number of eggs the queen lays depends on the amount of food she receives and on her workers building wax cells for her eggs.

Lemurs

Several lemur species have female leaders. In ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), which live in mixed social groups of up to 25 individuals, females may dominate because they need first dibs on food to reproduce successfully. Females behave aggressively toward both males and females when they compete for food, but males are more submissive, meaning females come out on top.

Female lemurs consistently win conflicts with males, but the reasons for this are still unclear. Lemurs are monomorphic, meaning that males and females grow to similar sizes and broadly look the same, but males appear to feel threatened by females nonetheless. High-ranking males, especially, would rather skip a meal than fight hungry females. By avoiding antagonistic interactions with females, these males may improve their chances of reproducing. 

Vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) reach lengths of about 1 foot (0.3 meters). Despite their menacing appearance and name, they are deep-sea scavengers and are unlikely to harm anything aside from small invertebrates and in fact usually gravitate toward feces and dead animals.

The species has been found in temperate and tropical ocean environments in many areas of the world.

The only officially recognized species was described in 1903 following a deep-sea expedition led by German marine biologist Carl Chun. A number of additional species were later described but eventually turned out to be members of the same species. 

These supposed newfound species were juvenile forms of V. infernalis, which had very different physical characteristics — the squid grows a second set of fins closer to its head as it matures and its original fins disappear.

Related: Rare video shows elusive deep-sea squid cradling her gigantic, translucent eggs

"Ten synonymous species that had previously been described showed some morphological differences in their various life stages," study lead author Dajun Qiu, a marine biologist at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, told Live Science.

Now, in a new study that appeared on May 2 in the preprint journal BioRxiv, researchers have described a second species of vampire squid found in the South China Sea, near Hainan island, China, in 2016, which they named V. pseudoinfernalis. It was found around 2,600 to 3,300 feet (800 to 1,000 meters) below the sea surface, in the so-called twilight zone, where little light from the surface penetrates.

This newly identified species displays some unique characteristics that distinguish it from V. infernalis. For example, the position of two photophores — light-producing organs — located between its fins and tail are different. In V. infernalis, they are located a third of the way between the fins and the end of the body, while in V. pseudoinfernalis they are located roughly halfway between these points. V. pseudoinfernalis also has a pointed tail while V. infernalis does not have one at all. The newfound species also has a beak with a longer wing on its lower jaw. 

In photographs of the preserved specimen, it looks like a black, gelatinous blob — but in its deep-sea environment it likely shares the billowing, cloak-like form of its cousin.

Genetic analysis further suggests that V. pseudoinfernalis is a distinct species, Qiu noted.

"We will analyze more specimens to ensure that observed morphological differences are consistent in the future," Qiu said. It seems likely that its diet is similar to its better-known relative, but research is ongoing, he said.

While the order Vampyromorphida contains only V. infernalis and the proposed V. pseudoinfernalis, numerous extinct relatives exist in the fossil record. A newfound species, unearthed in Luxembourg in 2022, was preserved with fish clasped in its tentacles, according to a 2024 paper.

Gaiasia jennyae existed around 280 million years ago — about 40 million years before the first dinosaurs evolved — and offers a glimpse into the early evolution of tetrapods, or four-limbed vertebrates. 

Its skull was more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) long, and researchers estimate the entire animal could have been  to 8.2 feet (2.5 m) long, potentially making it the biggest creature of its kind, according to a statement. 

Researchers described the swamp creature in a study published Wednesday (July 3) in the journal Nature.

"Gaiasia jennyae was considerably larger than a person, and it probably hung out near the bottom of swamps and lakes," study co-lead author Jason Pardo, a researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago, said in a separate statement.

Related: Stunning 3D images show anatomy of 500 million-year-old Cambrian trilobites entombed in volcanic ash

G. jennyae had interlocking jaws that enabled it to hunt for prey. The researchers believe it was likely the apex predator in its swampy ecosystem.

"It's got a big, flat, toilet seat-shaped head, which allows it to open its mouth and suck in prey," Pardo said. "It has these huge fangs, the whole front of the mouth is just giant teeth."

The researchers discovered the fossils in the Gai-As Formation in northwestern Namibia, which was the southern part of the supercontinent Gondwana when G. jennyae existed. The team discovered fossils from four individuals, including skull fragments and a vertebral column.

"When we found this enormous specimen just lying on the outcrop as a giant concretion, it was really shocking," study co-lead author Claudia Marsicano, a researcher at the University of Buenos Aires, said in the statement. "I knew just from seeing it that it was something completely different. We were all very excited."

Around the time G. jennyae lived, modern-day Namibia was located further south, almost parallel to the northernmost point of Antarctica today, and an ice age was coming to an end.

While the land near the equator had begun drying up and new animals were evolving to fill niches, swamps closer to the poles remained, enabling animals to retain more primitive features.. 

G. jennyae is a stem tetrapod — an early vertebrate that exhibits intermediate characteristics between fish and the first true four-limbed tetrapods. Stem tetrapods still retained aquatic features like gills and had limbs that were not fully evolved for movement on land.

"It's really, really surprising that Gaiasia is so archaic," Pardo said. "It was related to organisms that went extinct probably 40 million years prior."

G. jennyae shows how animals that existed further south were radically different from those nearer to the equator, Pardo said in the statement. Its success during this critical geological period could shed light on how the world was changing to support different forms of life.

"The more we look, we might find more answers about these major animal groups that we care about, like the ancestors of mammals and modern reptiles," Pardo said.

The researchers found that Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) identify limb wounds on their nestmates, then treat them with either cleaning or amputation.

The team published its findings Tuesday (July 2) in the journal Current Biology.

"When we're talking about amputation behavior, this is literally the only case in which a sophisticated and systematic amputation of an individual by another member of its species occurs in the animal kingdom," study first author Erik Frank, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Würzburg in Germany, said in a statement.

In 2023, Frank's team discovered that an African ant species, Megaponera analis, can treat infected wounds in their nestmates with an antimicrobial substance produced in their glands. Florida carpenter ants do not have any equivalent glands, so the team wanted to find out how this species handles wounds in members of the colony. 

Specifically, the researchers looked at two types of leg wounds: lacerations on the femur (thigh) and those lower down on the tibia.

Related: 'Supergene' mutation turned ants into parasitic wannabe queens

In experiments, they observed that the ants treated their nest members' femur injuries by cleaning the wound with their mouths before amputating the leg by repeatedly biting it, while the tibia wounds were treated with just cleaning.

The surgeries resulted in significant improvements in the survival of their ant patients. Survival rates for femur injuries improved from less than 40% to between 90 and 95% when amputations were performed, while survival rates for tibia injuries improved from 15% to 75% following cleaning.

The scientists suggest ants only amputate femur injuries, rather than all leg injuries, because of speed limitations.

An amputation takes ants at least 40 minutes to complete.

After studying micro-CT scans of the ants, the researchers speculated that the damage to blood-pumping muscles in the femur causes blood circulation to slow. This would mean that bacteria-laden blood would take longer to enter the body, allowing the ants enough time to amputate the limb.

Ant tibias, meanwhile, have relatively little muscle tissue, so infections can spread faster. This means amputation would take too long for the ants to stop the spread of harmful bacteria, so they instead focus on cleaning the wound.

"The ants are able to diagnose a wound, see if it's infected or sterile, and treat it accordingly over long periods of time by other individuals — the only medical system that can rival that would be the human one," Frank said.

The ants' ability to identify and treat wounds selectively is innate, the researchers said, and that they did not find evidence of learning.

The scientists are now extending their research to other ant species that don't possess special antimicrobial glands to see if other ants have the ability to perform surgeries. 

For hundreds of years, scientists have been cataloging and geolocating species across the globe. Prior to the digital age, most of our information about species distribution came from museum collections, said Vítor Piacentini, an ornithologist at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Brazil. Nowadays, the public also  contributes to this effort.

In the past 20 years, there has been a "revolution" in citizen science, Piacentini told Live Science, and "scientists are using their data to fill the gaps."

Using this information, scientists can map the distribution of species worldwide. In the late 1980s, scientist Norman Myers coined the term "biodiversity hotspot" to refer to places with an exceptionally high number of species for their surface area. Of the now 36 hotspots worldwide, most are in continents that cross the equator, where the climate is warm and humid.

The reason for this has to do not just with animals but also with plants. "Plants are the foundation of species," Barnabas Daru, an applied ecologist at Stanford University, told Live Science. "If a place has a higher diversity of plants, it makes it easier for other organisms that depend on those plants to become more abundant." 

Related: Which group of animals has the most species? 

Although plants can live in all sorts of conditions, most thrive in warm, humid places. The humidity and warmth work together to provide essential moisture: Warm air traps water molecules to create humidity. Warmth is also better for many microorganisms, especially the decomposers, which break down dead material that the plants harvest for nutrients. 

On top of all this, insects, which pollinate many flowering plants, are better suited for warmer climates because they can't regulate their own body temperature. Having more insects in the tropics means more pollination for plants and more food for hungry predators, Daru said. 

But Piancentini noted that other factors are also at play. To house a lot of species, a continent must offer not only tropical conditions but also a variety of habitats. Places with high biodiversity have many potential niches for animals to occupy, Piacentini said. For example, tall trees or high mountains create vertical variation in temperature, sun exposure and terrain that allow more critters to coexist without competing for the same resources or habitat.

Based on these factors and estimates using museum and citizen science data, most scientists agree that South America has the highest number of animal species. From the Amazon rainforest, which has four tree story layers for animals to occupy, to the Andes mountains with dozens of different microclimates, South America has the winning blend of heat and geography. "Everything's combined there," Piancentini said, "and that's why it has the biodiversity [that it does]." 

That said, South America's biodiversity may not always be as vibrant as it is now. With deforestation, mercury mining and climate change, South America's animals are facing more threats than ever before. There's still an opportunity to mitigate the damage, however.

"We will certainly lose a lot of species," Piacentini said, "but every effort that we make to reduce our impact will save us a lot as well."

Not a good idea

Don't do it!

In this photo named "Not a Good idea", a small cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) sits poised ready to grab at a male buffalo's (Syncerus caffer) genitals. This photo was captured in the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in South Africa by photographer Anton Pretorius.

Three's A Crowd

In this comically sad image taken in Antarctica,  a lonesome chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) looks upset at  seeing his penguin buddies walk away.

"I couldn't help but laugh when I viewed this photo (on) the back of my camera. How humanlike. And how awful it must be to be that third wheel," photographer Deena Sveinsson said in a statement describing the image. 

Related: Catspreading 'Big Boss' among finalists of Comedy Pet Photography Awards

Did You Hear the One About The....?

In this photo, two polar bears (Ursus maritimus) appear engaged in a joyous conversation. From their animated expressions it seems one polar bear has grown tired of a friend's lame jokes, while the other has its mouth wide open bursting out in laughter.

This photograph was captured by Wendy-Kaveney in Canada.

Laughing outloud

In Germany, photographer Ingo Hamann captured this seal (Pinnipedia) having the best time of its life as it appears to be laughing out loud.

Holding on for a ride

At Alaska's Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, photographer Alexander Fine captures two brown bear cubs (Ursus arctos) trying to hitch a ride on their mother's back.

Watch out For That Tree

In this quick shot named "Watch out For That Tree!" taken by Mark Koster, a mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) caught mid-flight appears to be running into a tree at Chaparral Park in Scottsdale, Arizona, but is actually flying behind it.

Three heads are better than one

A photo that may trick the eyes. This perfectly timed shot captures three giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) appearing to come from a single body. This was taken by photographer John Mullineux shortly after watching the giraffes fighting with each other in the Green Kalahari desert in South Africa.

Slow hands

A three-toed sloth (Bradypus species) is caught hanging from a tree while striking a pose in what is possibly the slowest-ever played air-guitar.

Photographer Harry Collins fittingly named this image after Eric Clapton's nickname, "Slowhand" — a name given to him by the manager of the band, Giorgio Gomelsky, after an audience broke out into a slow hand clap while Clapton was replacing a broken guitar string during a performance.

Peak A Boo!

In this photo, a camera-shy white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) seems to be saying "no pictures please!" It was taken by Tilan Weerasinghe in the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Pick me, pick meeeeee!

In this image a sea turtle appears eager to answer a question by raising its fin. 

"Who wants to live in a plastic free ocean? Meeeee," photographer Thomas Van Puymbroeck said to describe the image in the statement.

Where it lives: Western Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of Northern Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia.

What it eats: Fish, crabs, squid, cuttlefish, octopus and other sharks.

Why it's awesome: The tasselled wobbegong is a master of disguise.

These carpet sharks, which grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, are able to virtually disappear into the ocean floor thanks to their wide, flat bodies and dark, blotchy coloring, which help them blend into the reef. They also have coral-like lobes of flesh that form a beard-like fringe around the head and chin, which breaks up the wobbegong's outline to add an extra layer to its camouflage.

The species name dasypogon comes from the Greek word dasys, meaning "hairy," and pogon, which translates as "beard."

Related: The ancient deep-sea creature that can can choke a shark by spewing slime

Their ability to blend into their surroundings makes them dangerous predators. During the day, wobbegongs rest under reef ledges or in caves. They use a small, whisker-like sensory organ called a barbel, located in the nostrils, to sense their environment and ambush prey that comes too close. These sharks also wave their tails to imitate the movement of a small fish, which can lure in unsuspecting victims.

But at night tasselled wobbegong sharks really come to life, perching on the reef and attacking passing prey. When they spot a target, they lunge upwards and suck the animal into their giant mouths, before clamping down with powerful jaws and sharp, needle-like teeth.

These fish can also dislocate their jaw to eat larger prey — including other sharks. In 2011, while carrying out a survey of fishes off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, marine biologists spotted a tasselled wobbegong eating a brown-banded bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum) that was 80% its size.

Wobbegongs pose very little threat to humans but have been reported to occasionally bite divers who come too close. The Florida Museum's International Shark Attack File records 31 unprovoked wobbegong (of various species) attacks since 1580, but none were fatal.

The wobbegong's camouflage also helps to protect them from predators, as they may be eaten by other marine animals, including larger sharks.

Scientists have tested for mirror recognition in a wide array of species, starting with research on chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) published in 1970. Animals ranging from ants to manta rays to African gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus) have been scrutinized for signs of self-awareness when presented with a mirror. A small handful realize that they are looking at themselves. Many don't. And a number have displayed inconclusive behaviors. 

These mixed results have led researchers to debate the usefulness of the test and how it helps scientists understand animal cognition. 

Related: Which group of animals has the most species?

"Many animals don't pass," Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University, told Live Science. De Waal has conducted self-awareness tests on capuchin monkeys — which failed. "They need to self-inspect a visual mark in front of a mirror without any training or rewards. It needs to be spontaneous. Most of the claims in the literature don't fit this description."

So which animals have passed the test?

In the 1970 chimp experiments, four chimpanzees were anesthetized and marked with red dye on their faces. When they awoke, they examined the areas that had been marked in the mirror, indicating an understanding that they were viewing themselves.

The mark test is now considered the most conclusive proof of mirror self-awareness. 

Other great apes have also passed the test. Orangutans recognized themselves — and even identified marks on their bodies — in a 1973 study.

Bonobos were observed inspecting areas of their bodies they would not otherwise be able to see using a mirror in a 1994 study. The results for gorillas have been more inconclusive. 

Monkeys typically view their reflections as another animal — though a series of controversial studies showed that some species can identify themselves following extensive training regimens. 

This has been true of other animals as well, casting doubt on the implications of those studies. "Does that training process negate the outcomes of the mirror test for the species that require it?" wonders Ellen O'Donoghue, a cognitive psychologist at Cardiff University in the U.K., who has studied learning in pigeons. Critics of tests that use training exercises suggest that such learned behavior is not reliable evidence of self-awareness.

Until recently, the only other terrestrial mammal that has convincingly passed the test was an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at the Bronx Zoo.  However, a January, 2024 study in the journal Neuron suggested that mice, too, seem to recognize modifications to their own body in a mirror. 

Studies on dolphins suggest that they too can discern their own reflections. A 1995 study using video rather than mirrors and a 2001 study that used mirrors both indicated that dolphins use their images to examine marks made on their bodies. 

In 2008, researchers studying Eurasian magpies (Pica pica) found the first evidence that non-mammals were capable of mirror self-recognition. Pigeons have also passed the test — but only after a rigorous period of conditioning. And in 2022, wild Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) showed signs of mirror self-awareness as well, though they did not react to colored bibs placed around their necks in lieu of marking their bodies.

Tests on lower-order animals have proven particularly controversial. A 2015 study suggested that ants might possess some self-awareness because they attempted to remove blue paint from their heads when looking at their reflections. Two studies have suggested that fish may recognize themselves. One, from 2016, found that manta rays seemed to examine themselves and blow bubbles when shown a mirror. No mark test was conducted though. And a 2019 experiment on cleaner wrasses  (Labroides dimidiatus) found that they attempted to remove dye marks made on their undersides after spotting them in a mirror. And in the 2024 mouse study, researchers found mice removed marks from their body; those that could see the smudges removed them, while mice that couldn't see the smudges because they blended in with their fur color did not. The researchers also went a step further, scanning the brains of the mice as they removed the smudges. They found a subset of brain cells, called ventral hippocampal CA1 neurons, lit up during the mirror test. Whether a similar circuit plays a role in human self-recognition remains to be seen.

The fact that these supposedly more-primitive organisms pass the mirror test, while some of the most intelligent non-human animals, including African gray parrots, have failed it, has called its utility into question. It is unclear whether these investigations demonstrate a true sense of the self in the human sense or whether they simply indicate a sophisticated bodily awareness.

"The mirror test can index one aspect of self awareness," O'Donoghue told Live Science. "There's a tendency to look at self awareness as all or nothing. That's probably not true. It's probably more of a gradation."

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Friday, June 28 at 2:20 p.m. E.D.T. to note that mice pass the mirror test.

Although limited by certain rules, taxonomists have found a way to show off their sense of humor. From the irregular to painfully pun-full, here are some of the best named animal species.

Aha ha

Meet the wasp whose stinger isn't the only thing that will leave you in stitches — the Aha ha wasp.

In the 1970s, wasp lover and entomologist Howard Ensign Evans spent years collecting wasp specimens to send to his friends for examination and study. After his travels in Australia, Evans sent two specimens to Arnold Menke, a fellow entomologist at the systematic entomology laboratory for the Agricultural Research Center.

Upon opening the parcel, Menke looked at the wasps and exclaimed "Aha! A new species!" to which his colleague, Eric Grissell, responded in disbelief, "ha!". In fact, Menke was right, it was a new genus of wasp belonging to the family, Sphecidae, which are thread-waisted wasps that have skinny waists and paralyze their prey.

Gorilla gorilla

A name so nice, you say it twice. The name of the western gorilla is a tautonym, a scientific name where the genus and species are both the same word.

The western gorilla (gorilla gorilla) is one of two species of gorilla in the world. There are two subspecies. One is the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) while the other is the cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli).

The name was inspired by antiquity. Around 2,500 years ago, a Carthaginian admiral called Hanno set sail along the west coast of Africa. He visited a small island where he reported meeting "savage hairy people," which his interpreters called "gorillai," according to reports. 

We cannot be sure what language his interpreters spoke or if the account is actually true. Despite this, American naturalist Thomas S. Savage used the term in the first scientific description of the species - Troglodytes gorilla, now known as the western gorilla.

Boops boop

Much like the western gorilla, the name of this big-eyed species of seabream is a tautonym — Boops boops. In Greek, the name translates to "ox-eyed," and is inspired by the fact that it has large, round eyes relative to its small size.
 

Agra vation

Not many names capture attention like the caribid beetle, Agra vation. Its scientific name hints at both frustration and intrigue.

Conservation biologist Terry L. Erwin created this clever pun based on the difficulties of collecting beetles from the genus Agra.

These beetles are nocturnal, have slender heads and are found high in the rainforest canopy. Erwin devised a technique called "canopy fogging" to collect these species — using thermal foggers and biodegradable insecticide to collect mass quantities of specimens that were difficult to reach.

Before he died in 2020, Erwin was responsible for describing 438 species of Carabidae beetles, with names such as Agra cadabra and Agra katewinslettae (after the famous English actress who starred in the movie "Titanic").

Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides

The southeast asian soldier fly has the longest scientific name of any animal — Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides.

In ancient Greek, its genus translates to "near soldier wasp-fly" and the species translates to "wasp-fly like." The name comes from its resemblance to a thread-waisted wasp — the club-shaped abdomen, long antennae and darkened wings all make it look like a wasp even though it has no stinger. In evolutionary biology, this is known as mimicry.

Hotwheels sysyphus

Meet Hotwheels sysyphus, the spider with a name as unique as its anatomy. Believe it or not, its name is in honor of its distinct genitalia. 

A male specimen of this species was discovered in the southwest of China. Scientists that examined the spider found that the male sported a long and coiled embolus (a tubular organ that inseminates the female) and that it resembled a Hot Wheels track.

The species name, sysyphus, is derived from a figure in Greek mythology. In the tale, the king of Corinth, Sisyphus, is punished by Zeus to endlessly push a rock uphill, only to have it roll back down again. The spider's circular genitalia is reminiscent of Sisyphus' cyclic punishment, ergo its species name.

Boselaphus tragocamelus

Boselaphus tragocamelus is a species with perhaps the best mashup of names from other animals:  'Bos' is Latin for ox, 'elaphos', is Greek for deer, 'tragos', is Greek for a male goat, and 'kamelos', is Greek for camel.

B. tragocamelus is actually a large bovid found in India and Nepal. It is one of the largest living antelopes in the world — males can reach a towering height of 6.8 feet (2.1 meters).

This species was first described in 1766 by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who said its appearance was similar to a bunch of other animals, according to an article in the American society of mammalogists. The oddball sports a humped back like a camel, a horned and slender head like a goat or deer and a body shape similar to a cow. 

Gelae baen

Gelae baen, gelae donut and gelae rol are small, round fungus beetles pronounced like the english word "jelly" and whimsically named after sweet treats. The genus, Gelae, is derived from the Latin word "gelatus," which means "jellied" or "congealed." It's an homage to the beetles' diet of fungal slime molds.

Han solo

Other species have been named after characters from films, including the extinct trilobite Han solo, named after the famous "Star Wars" pilot.

In 2005, biologist Samuel Turvey described a trilobite found in  China's Hunan province. According to the study, the genus name Han was given to honor the Han people of China. The fossil was suspected to be the last surviving member of the family, Diplagnostidae, which gave rise to the species name solo. 

Later on, Turvey revealed that his friends dared him to pick that name as they believed most of the characters' names in the franchise sound like scientific names.

Scrotum humanum

One of the first dinosaurs ever described was almost named after human testicles.

In 1763, the lower end of a femur was found and described as Scrotum humanum because of its resemblance to human testicles, according to a 2014 article in the journal Science Vision.

It was first discovered nearly a century earlier in the Taynton Limestone Formation in Oxfordshire, England. Eventually, the curator of the Ashmolean Museum, Robert Plot, published an illustration of the fossil in the "Natural History of Oxfordshire." The fossil fragment's large size led him to believe it belonged to a Roman war elephant or a giant human.

In 1763, physician Richard Brookes dubbed it "Scrotum humanum" and republished the new name in his book, "The Natural History of Waters, Earths, Stones, Fossils and Minerals etc."

It was until 1824 that geologist William Buckland discovered that the fossil was part of an extinct reptile. He determined it may have once been part of a Megalosaurus, based on similarities to other giant fossil bones he had found. 

Although the name S. humanum is not used today, in 1970 paleontologist Beverley Halstead argued that because it was published first and it followed the naming convention, it should still be accepted.

Irritator challengeri 

The not-so-subtle name of this dinosaur is a reflection of paleontologists' frustration when they discovered someone had tampered with their fossil. 

Paleontologists identified Irritator challengeri based on a partly crushed skull found in the Santana Formation in Brazil. The skull was excavated and sold illegally in 1996 by commercial diggers. The scientists who described the species relied on CT scans to piece together the original skull shape.

The scans revealed the fossil was heavily damaged during collection and that it had an artificially constructed snout and a crack in the center of the skull that had been filled with car body filler.

Sphenacodon ferox and Sphenacodon ferocior 

The genus Sphenacodon contains two species of early reptilian predators in the ultimate showdown for the best name: Sphenacodon ferox versus Sphenacodon ferocior, otherwise known as "fierce" and "more fierce," respectively.

In 1878, Yale paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh described the first species in the genus Sphenacodon from a section of a lower jaw found in northern New Mexico. In Greek, "sphenacodon" translates to "wedge-point tooth," based on the large, sharp teeth that were in the jaw. Because of these fearsome teeth, Marsh assigned it the species name "ferox," which means "fierce" in Latin.

In 1937, Alfred Sherwood Romer, a specialist in vertebrate evolution, described another species from a skull and a number of vertebrae found near Jemez Canyon in New Mexico. He described this species as morphologically similar to S. ferox but with a body size up to 40% larger and longer spines.

Preseucoila imallshookupis 

Entomologist Matthew Buffington named the genus of this wasp species, Preseucoela, by combining Elvis Presley's last name with the suffix "-eucoela" — a word French naturalist Jean-Jacques Kieffer used to describe parasitic neotropical wasps, according to the 2004 study where the species was described. The species name is an homage to The King's famous 1956 song "All Shook Up."

Ampulex dementor

Ampulex dementor is a species of wasp in the family Ampulicidae. These cockroach wasps turn their prey into submissive zombies, according to a 2010 study in the journal Communicative and Integrative Biology. 

The species name "dementor" comes from the fictional "dementors" from the "Harry Potter" series. Dementors are soul-sucking, dark creatures that feed on human happiness, leaving their victims in a vegetative state.

Like its namesake, A. dementor injects cockroach brains with a toxin that keeps the cockroach alive but in a zombie-like state. The wasp then deposits its eggs into the cockroach's body. Once hatched, the young wasp larvae burst out and feed on the remains of the cockroach.

Sollasina cthulhu 

Sollasina cthulhu is a 430 million-year-old relative of living sea cucumbers. This tentacled critter lived on the bottom of the seafloor, crawling around on its 42 tubed feet to scavenge for food.

Because of its appearance, the species was named after a fictional deep-sea character from the fantasy short story "The Call of Cthulhu," by H. P. Lovecraft. The Cthulhu was a tentacle-headed monster that slumbered in a city at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. 

Scientists first named the species in a 2019 study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Researchers described a perfectly preserved fossil specimen found in the Herefordshire Lagerstätte formation in the United Kingdom. A 3D reconstruction of the fossil helped pin down the creature as a distinct species.

Ajnabia odysseus

Ajnabia odysseus is the first duck-billed dinosaur to be found in Africa. It is a hadrosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 66 million years ago.

At that time, the world was split into two main supercontinents: Laurasia (North America, Asia and Europe) in the Northern Hemisphere and Gondwana (South America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia) in the Southern Hemisphere.

Until the discovery of A. odysseus, scientists thought hadrosaurids lived only on the isolated supercontinent of Laurasia, because it was surrounded by deep waters, according to a 2010 article in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The African fossil challenged the understanding of the dinosaur family's dispersal, as it showed that a hadrosaur had crossed miles of ocean to reach Gondwana, according to the 2021 study describing the species.

This long journey led the researchers to name the species after the ancient Greek hero Odysseus, who famously embarked on a 10-year voyage home from Troy.

Geophilus persephone

Geophilus persephone is a cave-dwelling centipede that spends its entire life in complete darkness. 

G. persephone was discovered in underground caves in France in the 1990s. It is named after the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology, in which Persephone was abducted by her uncle, Hades, god of the underworld, who abducted her as his bride.. 

This species has a slender body, no eyes, and only 29 legs. It was the first soil centipede to be described as a troglobite, a species strictly bound to underground habitats.

Geophilus hadesi

In 2015, scientists described another underground species of soil centipede: Geophilus hadesi. It has adapted to cave life, thriving in complete darkness and high humidity.

G. hadesi is the deepest-dwelling centipede in the world, found at a record 3,609 feet (1,100 m).

Hydra viridissima

Hydra is a genus of small freshwater animals with tubelike bodies and tentacles. They grow up to 0.4 inch (10 millimeters) long and eat worms, fish larvae and small crustaceans.

They can regrow lost limbs and even grow a whole new organism from small tissue fragments. Their bodies are made mainly of stem cells, allowing these creatures to constantly replace old cells and seemingly live forever.

The genus takes its name from the monster in Greek mythology. The serpent-like beast had many heads and was bred to kill Hercules; when one head was cut off, two heads would grow back in its place. 

This species is named viridissima, which in Latin means "the greenest." It's bright green appearance comes from its symbiotic relationship with an algae called Chlorella, that lives within its body.

Hoopoe

The Eurasian hoopoe is a bird with a bold appearance and a unique call. 

Its Latin name is an onomatopoeia created from the "oop-oop-oop" sound of its call, according to the Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.