Category: Animals
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This Fiji plant grew condos to house feuding ants
High in the rainforest canopy of Fiji, a peculiar plant has taken on the role of urban planner. Squamellaria, an epiphyte that clings to tree branches, has evolved a remarkable solution to an age-old ecological dilemma: how to house rival ant species without letting them tear each other apart. The answer? Condos. Not in the
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The truth behind those ‘stoned dolphins’ and their toxic pufferfish toy
It started with a slow float. In a 2013 BBC documentary, a pod of adolescent dolphins was filmed gently passing a pufferfish between them. They didn’t bite or kill. They just nudged it, mouthed it, and then drifted near the water’s surface, as if mesmerized. One dolphin stared at its own reflection. Another hovered with
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First documented harpy eagle attack on human shocks scientists
The forest near the Kourou River in French Guiana had fallen quiet, save for the hush of wind through canopy leaves. It was October 2023. A group of birdwatchers, guided by a local ecotourism camp, had set out on a jungle trail toward a natural bathing pool. Somewhere overhead, a harpy eagle watched. They spotted
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The octopus that can stop your heart—and might fix it
Perched in tide pools and reefs from Japan to Australia, the blue-ringed octopus is as beautiful as it is deadly. Barely the size of a golf ball, this unassuming creature carries a toxin strong enough to paralyze a human within minutes. But beneath its lethal reputation lies a paradox: its venom, tetrodotoxin, could also help
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Woman taken by shark off Tathra Beach, 10 years later her story returns
It was a perfect April morning off the coast of Tathra, New South Wales. Christine Armstrong, a 63-year-old ocean swimmer and pillar of the local surf lifesaving club, set off with her husband and a group of friends to swim their familiar 1,970-foot route from Tathra Wharf to the beach. It was a ritual they
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New study links guppy color to brainpower, sex drive, and survival
Male guppies are tiny, tropical fish, but their looks could rival any fashion week runway. The flashier the color, the greater the odds of finding a mate. Now a new study from the University of British Columbia reveals just how deep that preference runs. Turns out, a male’s vibrant orange isn’t just for show,it’s a
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Florida cat “Pepper” uncovers new virus in backyard shrew
When a black cat showed up with a dead shrew in its mouth, it seemed like any other day in the Gainesville backyard of virologist John Lednicky. But Pepper isn’t just any cat, and that wasn’t just any shrew. The animal turned out to be infected with a virus scientists had never seen before. Lednicky,
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Bush dogs are smaller than a beagle, but they hunt like wolves
You’d be forgiven for thinking the bush dog is a hoax. Rarely seen and once known only from fossils, it spent decades slipping through the cracks of modern science. For much of the 20th century, many biologists believed it had vanished from the planet altogether. But the bush dog, Speothos venaticus, is very much alive.
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How bizarre feet made the Eurasian coot a survival machine
They look like something out of science fiction. Long, finger-like toes with rubbery flaps that pulse outward when they hit water, then fold inward like origami when they step on land. These are the feet of the Eurasian coot,a medium-sized waterbird found across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. And while its black body and white