Cool Zoology Stories of 2025
Happy New Year!!! Since 2021 I've been welcoming in each near year by rounding up some of the most interest and exciting zoology-related stories I've come across in the year before, and 2025 has left me spoiled for choice (see the end of this post for some honourable mentions.) Here are just a few of my favourite stories from the field of zoology in the past year.
A young Colossal Squid was caught on camera
Species Concerned: Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni)
Source: Here and Here
Image Source (and video): Here
Despite its status as quite possibly the largest living invertebrate (growing to be over 4 meters/13 feet long and weighing over 500kg/1,100lbs) we know remarkably little about the Colossal Squid; it is believed to live at extreme depths throughout the world’s Southern Ocean, and while the discovery of the remains of dead individuals washed up on beaches or in the stomachs of Sperm Whales and seabirds have allowed us to gain some understanding of the squid’s anatomy (such as the presence of sharp hooks lining the suction cups on its feeding tentacles, which may aid it in catching fish) its inaccessible habitat means that much of its ecology and life cycle remains a mystery. In 2013 a team working with the Japanese broadcast company NHK reported filming the first and for many years only footage of a live colossal squid in its natural deep-sea habitat (providing insight into the sluggish manner in which it swims,) and in early 2025 another groundbreaking step was taken in documenting the lifestyle of this squishy deep-sea giant – a team from the Schmit Ocean Institute filmed what was eventually determined to be a live juvenile Colossal Squid swimming slowly through the southern Atlantic ocean!
The 2025 footage shows that the mantle of the juvenile (the muscular upper body in which most of a squid’s organs are held) was notably transparent, which provides interest insight into how Colossal Squids may mature; the Colossal Squid belongs to the glass squid family (Cranchiidae), many species of which have similarly partially or fully transparent bodies that make them harder for predators to spot in the partially-lit ocean levels they typically inhabit. Adult Colossal Squids have opaque, pigmented bodies, suggesting that members of this species are born with the transparent bodies typical of their family but slowly transition to their adult colouration as they grow larger and thus less vulnerable to predation. The juvenile was also filmed in relatively shallow water (600m) while adult Colossal Squids are believed to inhabit depths of over 2,000 meters, supporting a popular theory that young Colossal Squids live in shallower waters than their parents (possibly to feed on more abundant plankton or small fish found closer to the surface) and delve progressively deeper as they reach maturity. At approximately 30cm long its unknown how long it will take for this (relatively) little guy to reach full size (most squids are short-lived and mature in only a few years, leading to suggestions that Colossal Squids either exhibit unusual longevity or grow exceptional quickly,) but its discovery still has the potential to fill in significant gaps in our understanding of its species’ early life.
A goth bee made its scientific debut
Species Concerned: Lucifer Bee (Megachile lucifer)
Source: Here (Prendergast and Campbell's paper can be found here.)
Image Source: Here
While observing the flowers of a rare Northern Marianthus (Marianthus aquilonaris) during a 2019 survey of the Goldfields region of western Australia bee researcher Kit Prendergast observed a very unusual insect; a small, hairy, black-bodied bee with short, curved horns located between its compound eyes. Later expeditions allowed Prendergast to collect several more specimens of this unusual bee feeding on the flowers of blooming Mallee Wandoo trees (Eucalyptus livida), and in November of 2025 she alongside fellow apiologist Joshua Campbell published a paper describing these specimens as representing a new species, Megachile lucifer (later dubbed the Lucifer Bee in press releases announcing its discovery, named not just for the biblical devil but also after the 2016 TV series Lucifer, which Prendergast reports watching around the time that her discovery was made.)
Though much of the Lucifer Bee’sbiology remains a mystery for now, Prendergast and Campbell have already been able to make several interesting observations by examining captured specimens. The distinctive horns seen on the first individual observed are found only in females (with males being hornless, slightly smaller and paler in colour,) and may be used to wrestle with rival females for nesting ground (with females seemingly living alone, as opposed to in hives) or to push competitors off of flowers. Females also exhibit thick fur on the underside of their abdomens (a common trait of the Leafcutter Bee family, Megachilidae, which the species has been placed in), which may aid them in gathering pollen to feed their larvae as in other solitary bees. The name “Lucifer” translates literally to “light bringer”, which its discoverer has noted to be an appropriate double meaning; Australia’s native bees are poorly-studied and the Northern Marianthus on which the first documented Lucifer Bee was feeding is a rare plant believed to be in decline, leading Prendergast to express hope that the news of this species’ discovery, combined with its distinctive appearance, will help to shed light on the need to better understand the country’s native pollinators and the plants on which they rely.
The world's smallest snake is still out there
Species Concerned: Barbardos Threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae)
Source: Here
Image Source: Here
Found primarily in forested regions of eastern Barbados, the Barbados Threadsnake is a very rare, very unusual, and very, very small snake; adults rarely exceed 10cm (3.9 inches) in length, making this species the smallest known snake species. Pushed to the brink of extinction by the loss of its forest habitat following the European colonisation of Barbados but extremely difficult to study due to its tiny size, the species has only been recorded a handful of times since being formerly described in the 1700s and was feared extinct due to a lack of sightings since the turn of the century. Those fears were dissuaded in March of 2025 when a team surveying forests across Barbados in an effort to identify and protect rare endemic reptile species discovered a Barbados Threadsnake curled up beneath a rock, marking the first recorded sighting of the species in nearly 20 years!
While the Barbados Threadsnake’s tiny size poses perhaps the most significant obstacle to recording individuals in the wild its biology only further complicates the matter; members of this species are fossorial (meaning they’re adapted to life underground, with their tiny bodies being well-suited to tunnelling through loose soil in search of ants, termites and other small insects on which to feed,) and even when spotted above the surface their dark brown colouration aids them in blending in with the soil and leaf litter around them. What’s more, they’re easily confused with the related Brahminy Blindsnake (Indotyphlops braminus), another tiny snake that has become established as an invasive species in Barbados (with the team responsible for this year’s Threadsnake sighting making an identification by using a microscope to compare the scale markings of their snake with those of a Blindsnake.) Subsequent surveys of the area in which the initial Barbados Threadsnake sighting occurred revealed a second individual living nearby, further suggesting that a population of these illusive little reptiles remains hidden somewhere in Barbados’ soil.
We may FINALLY know what a White Witch Moth caterpillar looks like
Species Concerned: White Witch Moth (Thysania agrippina)
Source: Quitmeyer's iNaturalist upload can be found here, info on the search for White Witch larvae was taken from here.
Image Source: Here
With a wingspan of over 28 cm, the White Witch Moth is one of the largest moths in the world. Its also one of the most widely distributed, having been recorded from as far north as Mexico to as far south as Uruguay. That makes it somewhat perplexing that the eggs, larvae and pupae of this species have never been formerly described; while a widely-circulated image produced by Maria Sibylla Merian (an entomologist and illustrator famed from producing accurate images of insects at different life stages, allowing her work to be used to identify species that undergo metamorphosis) depicts adult White Witches alongside a hairy black-and-green caterpillar modern entomologists have noted that the caterpillar in Merian’s image closely resembles that of a sphinx moth (Sphingidae) species, and so is unlikely to be that of a White Witch which belongs to the only distantly related underwing family (Erebidae.) A new caterpillar candidate came to light in 2025, when iNaturalist user Andrew Quitmeyer (under the username dinalab) uploaded several pictures of a large black-and-white caterpillar they had discovered in Panama’s Veraguas province and claimed to have successfully raised it until it developed into a mature White Witch Moth.
Though Quitmeyer’s observation is undeniably exciting, the mystery of the White Witch’s larval development is still far from solved; without any definitive records of what a White Witch caterpillar looks like visual identification of the larva pictured is impossible, and as Quitmeyer has yet to provide evidence supporting their identification beyond their claims of having raised the larva to maturity its likely too soon to say if their identification is correct. That being said, the comments on Quitmeyer’s initial iNaturalist post show that they have expressed interest in publishing their findings in the future. Citizen science has a great capacity to bridge gaps in more conventional species recording, and if Quitmeyer’s observation proves correct it would represent an exciting step forward in understanding this massive-yet-mysterious moth.
The Green Sea Turtle is no longer endangered!
Species Concerned: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Source: Here (IUCN Red List page here)
Image Source: Here
Like the Giant Panda or Bornean Orangutan, the Green Sea Turtle (arguably the most well-known and iconic sea turtle species) is fairly famous as an example of a species in decline; poaching, marine pollution, changing ocean conditions and the destruction of coastal nesting sites have drastically reduced the species’ population over the last century, and for as long as records on Green Sea Turtle populations have been held by the IUCN red list (the branch of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature responsible for compiling information on species’ population trends in order to determine how great a risk of extinction they face) this species has been classified as endangered. Its longstanding imperiled status makes an update to the red list published in early 2025 all the more exciting; following over 40 years of conservation efforts the Green Sea Turtle’s red list status has been amended to Least Concern, the classification assigned to species at the lowest immediate risk of extinction!
Named not for its external colouration but for a layer of pale green fat found under its shell, the Green Sea Turtle is among the most widely-distributed of the 7 known sea turtle species (having been observed in the water surrounding over 100 countries, with over 80 countries containing beaches used by nesting females.) Its wide range has historically complicated its conservation, as while many countries have applied some degree of legal protection to adult turtles and their nests the tendency of Green Sea Turtle to cross borders, combined with the pressures facing all marine ecosystems in the face of a changing global climate, means that the protection of this species requires international cooperation between conservationists, policymakers and the communities with which the turtles coexist. While continued efforts will be needed to ensure Green Sea Turtle populations remain stable and to aid in the species’ continually recovery, the fact that we’ve gotten this far shows that, though the threats the world’s oceans face may seem insurmountable and hope towards conservation can be difficult to hold onto, even the most threatened species may not be beyond saving.
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In the interest of not making this already rather lengthy post even longer, here are a few honourable mentions you may also enjoy:
-A Kākāpō baby boom has been predicted
-A new study suggests spiders use their legs to smell
-A Humpback Anglerfish was caught on film
-A Night Parrot egg was discovered
-Spotted Estuary Sharks were found to communicate by clicking
Have a great new year :)
