Animal coloring pagesApril 15, 2020 – Add some color to your favorite animal, then hang up your creation for everyone to see!
Coloring Book: Animals (J to Z)June 14, 2019 – Select an animal below or download the full coloring book (44 MB). Just print and color.
Coloring Book: Animals (A to I)June 02, 2014 – Download and print coloring pages.
NudibranchSeptember 24, 2015 – A blob the size of a teacup slinks along the ocean floor in the shallow waters off of Australia. It’s a type of sea slug called the nudibranch (NEW-dih-bronk), a slime-oozing creature with a boneless body. Many of them also sport brilliant colors and eye-catching patterns on their skin. In fact this sticky slug is often considered one of the most beautiful animals in the world. IN THE MOOD FOR FOOD Over 3,000 species of nudibranchs exist, and most live in shallow, tropical waters. They can be anywhere from a quarter of an inch to 12 inches long and can weigh up to 3.3 pounds. These sea slugs spend their time sliding on their bellies around their habitat in search of snacks. The animals have a set of curved teeth, which they use to eat coral, sponges, and fish eggs off the ocean floor. Nudibranchs use tentacles on their heads to poke around for grub. TRUE COLORS The nudibranch’s meals don’t just satisfy its hunger—the food also gives the animal its coloring. When the sea slug eats, it absorbs and displays its prey’s pigment—the substance that gives the prey its color. Some nudibranchs also absorb toxins from certain prey and secrete the poison from their own skin. This allows them to fend off enemies such as fish. So the nudibranch is stunning, resourceful, and it recycles? This slug sounds far from sluggish! Text by Andrea Silen / NGS Staff
SlothMarch 01, 2014 – It's a good thing sloths don't have to go to school. They'd never make it on time. These drowsy tree-dwellers sleep up to 20 hours a day! And even when they are awake, they barely move at all. In fact, they're so incredibly sluggish, algae actually grows on their fur. Sloths live in the tropical forests of Central and South America. With their long arms and shaggy fur, they resemble monkeys, but they are actually related to armadillos and anteaters. They can be 2 to 2.5 feet (0.6 to 0.8 meters) long and, depending on species, weigh from 8 to 17 pounds (3.6 to 7.7 kilograms). There are two main species of sloth, identified by whether they have two or three claws on their front feet. The two species are quite similar in appearance, with roundish heads, sad-looking eyes, tiny ears, and stubby tails. Two-toed sloths are slightly bigger and tend to spend more time hanging upside-down than their three-toed cousins, who will often sit upright in the fork of a tree branch. Three-toed sloths have facial coloring that makes them look like they're always smiling. They also have two extra neck vertebrae that allow them to turn their heads almost all the way around! Some scientists think sloths developed their slow-motion lifestyle so they would be less noticeable to predators such as hawks and cats, which rely heavily on their eyesight when hunting. The algae that grows on sloths' fur also helps them avoid predators by letting them blend in with green leaves. They rarely come down from the trees. About once every week, they descend to go to the bathroom, slowly moving about by digging their front claws into the dirt and dragging their bodies. If they are caught by a predator, sloths turn from sluggish to slugger, biting fiercely, hissing, slashing with their claws, and shrieking.
Color explosionSeptember 05, 2017 – Chemistry doesn't have to be boring—especially when you can get a cool art project out of it.
Monarch ButterflyMarch 01, 2014 – Monarch butterflies live in North, Central, and South America as well as Australia, some Pacific Islands, India, and Western Europe. They're on the endangered species list. Find out how you can help protect their habitat.