Monarch butterflies have fascinated biologists for a long time. A 3,000-mile road trip in even the most comfortable car would prove daunting to many humans, but these beautiful insects can migrate that same distance every year from Canada to a specific grove of fir trees in Mexico each fall. The next generation of monarchs can then travel back to Canada in the spring.

A new species of chimaera found in Californian waters has been given a name. Chimaeras are bizarre cartilaginous fish with features that stand out among other fish. What also stands out is their lack of evolutionary change over supposed eons of evolutionary time.

Pandas face a difficult future, despite great efforts to preserve them. With their dwindling population, shrinking habitat, and weakening genetic strength, one evolutionist has suggested that these longstanding symbols of the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) should be allowed to die out.

Ardipithecus ramidus is an extinct primate whose fossilized remains were first found along the Awash River in Ethiopia about 15 years ago. Many fragments were collected, including shattered bones from a four-foot-tall female nicknamed "Ardi." She was chosen to represent her kind, apparently because of the comparative completeness of her remains.

Ever hear of International Blasphemy Day? For many of us, it came and went without as much as a blip on the radar. But for a select few atheists and agnostics, it was yet another day to espouse their hatred for religion and, like loud children hiding behind the jungle gym, insult people of faith from the safety of cyberspace.