Jake Buehler

Jake Buehler is a freelance science writer, covering natural history, wildlife conservation and Earth's splendid biodiversity, from salamanders to sequoias. He has a master's degree in zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

All Stories by Jake Buehler

  1. Paleontology

    Fossils reveal many complex animals existed before the Cambrian explosion

    Hundreds of Chinese fossils from the dawn of animal evolution may change how scientists think of this critical period of prehistory.

  2. Paleontology

    Early apes may not have evolved in East Africa

    Fossil jaw remains found in Egypt suggest that the earliest modern apes evolved in North Africa, not in East Africa where most fossils have been found.

  3. Animals

    Mosquitoes get the ‘I’m full’ signal from their butts, not their brains

    Mosquitoes stop feeding because signals from rectal cells tell them they’re full, offering a target for preventing human bites.

  4. Animals

    A koala population’s rapid rebound may let it escape inbreeding’s perils

    As koalas in southern Australia have grown from a few hundred to almost half a million, the marsupials show signs of regaining lost genetic variation.

  5. Animals

    Keeping a beat wins caterpillars friends in low places

    Finding a caterpillar with rhythm was “mind-blowing,” suggesting it might be a more widespread part of animal communication than thought.

  6. Animals

    Some dog breeds carry a higher risk of breathing problems

    Research reveals more short-snouted dogs besides pugs and bulldogs that struggle with breathing. Pekingese and Japanese Chins topped the study's list.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Genes may shape how long we live more than once thought

    New research challenges the view that human life span depends mostly on lifestyle. Genes may account for half the factors that determine longevity.

  8. Animals

    Spider silk-making organs evolved due to a 400-million-year-old genetic oops

    An ancient ancestor of spiders and relatives doubled its genome about 400 million years ago, setting the stage for the evolution of spinnerets.

  9. Animals

    This fish may play a hole in its head like a drum

    The rockhead poacher is a little fish with a big pit in its head. The divot may be like a drum, making sound that rises above a chaotic, nearshore din.

  10. Animals

    How cheetah mummies could help bring the species back to Arabia

    Arabian cheetah mummies' DNA reveals that the long-lost population could be closely replaced by a cheetah population in northwestern Africa.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Botox could be used to fight snakebite

    A study on rabbits dosed with viper venom suggests that botulinum toxin may alleviate some effects of snakebite, possibly by dampening inflammation.

  12. Animals

    Ancient DNA rewrites the tale of when and how cats left Africa

    Cats were domesticated in North Africa, but spread to Europe only about 2,000 years ago. Earlier reports of “house” cats were wild cats.