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. Life

    New fossils from Patagonia may rewrite the history of duck-billed dinosaurs

    New findings are adding a wrinkle to researchers’ understanding of how duck-billed dinosaurs conquered the Cretaceous world.

  2. Life

    Spiny mice have armadillo-like armor in their tails

    CT scans revealed the bony plates in the rodents’ tails. The hidden armor may protect against attacking predators or other spiny mice.

  3. Animals

    A 2,200-year-old poop time capsule reveals secrets of the Andean condor

    Guano that has accumulated in a cliffside Andean condor nest for 2,200 years reveals how the now-vulnerable birds responded to a changing environment.

  4. Life

    Comb jellies have a bizarre nervous system unlike any other animal

    A 3-D map of the comb jelly “nerve net” reveals fused neurons that lack the space, or synapses, most neurons use to communicate. Did it evolve independently?

  5. Life

    T. rex may have had lips like a modern lizard’s

    Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed as lipless, but new research suggests this wasn’t so.

  6. Animals

    Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers

    Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.

  7. Animals

    The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp

    When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.

  8. Life

    Mammals that live in groups may live longer, longevity research suggests

    An analysis of nearly 1,000 mammal species reveals that the evolution of mammals’ social lives and life spans could be linked.

  9. Life

    Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction

    For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.

  10. Animals

    Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

    Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

  11. Animals

    Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong

    Snakes were long thought to be the only reptile group to lack clitorises. But new findings suggest the sex organs are present after all.

  12. Paleontology

    Armored dinos may have used their tail clubs to bludgeon each other

    Broken and healed spikes on Zuul's flanks are consistent with the armored beast receiving a mighty blow from the tail club of another ankylosaur.