How did the ant steal the lion’s dinner? This isn’t the beginning of one of Aesop’s Fables. It’s the finding of a new study showing how the disruption of one…
Category: Animals
A bird flu outbreak is sweeping the globe. Its long-term effects are unclear
As I step among poop-covered rocks toward the plateau of a small island in the Galápagos, a part of me rejoices. Not only am I about to see the archipelago’s…
Some honeybees in Italy regularly steal pollen off the backs of bumblebees
Honeybees rely on plant pollen as a protein-packed food source. And some are even willing to steal from other bees to get it. Pollen stealing has been seen before, in…
These snails give live birth, and it’s the babies that may do the labor
The oddball minority of animals that don’t lay eggs includes a tough little snail called a rough periwinkle. Unlike mammals giving birth to kittens and fawns and helpless little humans,…
Here’s how tardigrades go into suspended animation
Researchers have discovered a molecular sensor that tells tardigrades it’s time to toughen up. The tiny eight-legged animals, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are nearly invincible when…
A new exhibit invites you into the ‘Secret World of Elephants’
For millions of years, over a dozen species of proboscideans, the group that includes mammoths, mastodons and elephants, roamed landscapes as varied as Arctic tundra and African savannas. Then, around…
Some mysteries remain about why dogs wag their tails
When it comes to tail wagging among dogs, some questions still hound researchers. We know that domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris) use their tails to communicate — with other dogs as…
Australia’s numbats may overheat quickly as temperatures rise
Numbats are curious creatures. The only marsupials that are active solely during the day, when they scratch at soil and rotting logs for termites, these squirrel-sized animals are built to…
Here’s how poison dart frogs safely hoard toxins in their skin
Toxins found in the skin of poison dart frogs may hitch a ride there via molecular taxicabs. As a group, poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) host an assortment of more than…
Ant face patterns like swirls and stubble might have practical value
National Harbor, Md. — Looking at face patterns in photos of more than 11,000 kinds of ants struck entomologist Clint Penick as a fine pandemic-lockdown project for his students. From…
