Animals cover themselves in all kinds of unsavory fluids to keep cool. Humans sweat, kangaroos spit and some birds will urinate on themselves to survive hot days. It turns out…
Category: Animals
Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’
How Far the Light ReachesSabrina ImblerLittle, Brown & Co., $27 In How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler shows us that the ocean, in all its mystery and dazzling glory,…
Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually
Given enough time, jumping beans will always find their way out of the sun. Jumping beans, which are really seed pods with twitchy moth larvae inside, hop around in a…
These are our favorite animal stories of 2022
From spiders that catapult their way to safety to sea sponges that sneeze themselves clean, here are the creature features that most impressed us in 2022. Fishing fox Pics or…
Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong
Female snakes have clitorises too, a new study finds. The research raises the possibility that the sex lives of snakes are more complicated and diverse than previously understood, researchers report…
Katydids had the earliest known insect ears 160 million years ago
Over 100 million years ago, the chirps of insects known as katydids dominated the sounds of Earth’s nights. Now, fossils reveal what the katydid ears that heard those sounds looked…
A parasite makes wolves more likely to become pack leaders
A parasite might be driving some wolves to lead or go solo. Wolves in Yellowstone National Park infected with Toxoplasma gondii make more daring decisions than their uninfected counterparts, researchers…
A new book asks: What makes humans call some animals pests?
PestsBethany BrookshireEcco, $28.99 We spend so much time making sure wildlife stays away from us, whether that’s setting traps, building fences or putting out poisons. Sure, unwanted guests are annoying.…
A natural gene drive could steer invasive rodents on islands to extinction
In the battle against the invasive house mouse on islands, scientists are using the rodent’s own genes against it. With the right tweaks, introducing a few hundred genetically altered mice…
Mammoths may have gone extinct much earlier than DNA suggests
Some ancient DNA may be leading paleontologists astray in attempts to date when woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos went extinct. In 2021, an analysis of plant and animal DNA from…
