Wild Things
The weird and wonderful in the natural world
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
On the importance of elephant poop
Asian elephants are key dispersers for tree seeds. A new study finds that buffalo and cattle can also disperse the seeds, but not nearly as well.
- Animals
Sea level rise threatens sea turtles
Sea level rise is causing coastal areas to be inundated with water. Even short periods of being wet can kill sea turtle eggs, a new study finds.
- Animals
Eyewitness account of a dolphin birth takes a dark turn
Scientists witnessed the first wild birth of a bottlenose dolphin — and an attempt at infanticide.
- Animals
Birds learn what danger sounds like
In just two days, superb fairy-wrens learned to recognize an unfamiliar alarm call as a sign that a predator loomed.
- Animals
Feeding seabirds may give declining populations a boost
Supplementing the diets of kittiwakes with additional food might give fledglings a head start, a new study finds.
- Animals
Children’s classic ‘Watership Down’ is based on real science
The novel ‘Watership Down’ is the tale of a bunch of anthropomorphized rabbits. Their language may be unreal, but the animals’ behavior was rooted in science.
- Animals
Cuckoos may have a long-lasting impact on other birds
Some birds that don’t have to worry about parasites like cuckoos reject eggs that aren’t their own. It might be a legacy of long-ago parasitism.
- Animals
Seabirds may navigate by scent
Shearwaters may use olfactory cues to find islands far across the open ocean, a new study suggests.
- Climate
Pink salmon threatened by freshwater acidification
Ocean acidification gets more attention, but freshwater systems are also acidifying. That’s a problem for young salmon, a new study finds.
- Animals
For dwarf mongooses, handstands aren’t just good fun
Dwarf mongooses may use marks laid down in handstand positions to gather information on rivals, a new study shows.
- Plants
Beauty drives orchids towards extinction
Dozens of species of Asian slipper orchids have been newly classified as threatened or endangered, their numbers driven low by illegal trade.
- Animals
Kangaroos are lefties
Scientists find evidence of handedness in marsupials that walk on two, but not four, legs.
