Cheryl Anne Stapp

Not every California resident cruises the fast lane. The desert tortoise, which is able to travel up to one-fourth of a mile per hour, prefers to stay put. Also called gopher tortoise, it spends about 95 percent of its life in burrows it digs to escape the soaring heat, and freezing cold, of its habitat—the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California and elsewhere. The desert tortoise, named the official State Reptile of California in 1972, is characterized by a h

Sometimes strong bonds of affection develop between members of the animal kingdom. A case in point is the 1855 story of Nevada City...

There were no animals of any kind on the rocky island when explorer Sebastian Vizcaino stopped there in 1602, naming it Santa Catalina in...

In the Late Pleistocene Epoch, a member of the cat family roamed prehistoric California. Scientifically known as Smilodon, this...

The California quail, also known as the valley quail, topknot quail, and California partridge, is a prized game bird known for its...