Wild Things
The weird and wonderful in the natural world
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Grizzly bears get stressed from salmon decline
Grizzlies in coastal British Columbia bulk up on salmon in the fall, but they experience stress when the fish are scarce.
- Animals
Dazzle camouflage may fool a locust
The bold zig-zag patterns that adorned naval ships during the world wars also appear in nature and may bewilder locusts, a new study suggests.
- Animals
DNA study reveals new wild cat species in Brazil
A new small cat species, Leopardus guttulus, was discovered in Brazil, hiding in plain sight. The oncilla, researchers say, is really two kinds of cat.
- Animals
To study turkey instincts, consider robot turkeys
In 2004, Australian researchers built robot turkeys to study the instincts of Australian brush turkey chicks. Robots can be a useful way of learning more about animals, but the use of robots has yet to take over in animal behavior studies.
- Plants
How weeds hitchhike across the country
A drive down a muddy lane can be fun, but it can also pick up the seeds of weeds or invasive species and transport them far away.
- Animals
Green sea slugs aren’t solar powered after all
Several species of sea slugs hold on to algal chloroplasts, digesting them weeks or months later. Scientists assumed the creatures were able to use these chloroplasts to make their own food in lean times. A new study finds that at least two of the species aren't solar powered after all.
- Animals
Migration is a deadly time for raptors
For a bird or any other animal that migrates a long distance, it’s sure to face a host of dangers. The story is no different for raptors.
- Animals
Tibet may be ancient home of big cats
A recently discovered fossil skull and teeth suggest that the ancestor of all big cats lived in what's now Tibet.
- Animals
Deer and other animals can survive being impaled
Whether they are hunting shots gone wrong or something more sinister, stories of animals surviving such misfortunes are not uncommon.
- Animals
Myna birds don’t benefit from brainstorming
Mynas birds are actually a lot worse at problem solving when working in a group.
- Plants
In dry times, these trees invest in ants
The insects provide adequate defense by ganging up on leaf-eating caterpillars and biting their undersides until the herbivores fall off the tree.
- Animals
Birds avoid the sounds of roads
The sound of cars driving down a road is enough to deter many bird species from an area.
