Wild Things
The weird and wonderful in the natural world
- Animals
Lionfish invasion comes to the Mediterranean
Scientists had thought that the Mediterranean was too cold for lionfish to permanently settle there. But now they’ve found a population of the fish off Cyprus.
- Animals
Sneaky male fiddler crabs entrap their mates
Some male banana fiddler crabs get a female to mate with them by trapping her in their burrow, a new study finds.
- Animals
Bacteria make male lacewings disappear
Scientists have tracked down why some green lacewings in Japan produce only female offspring: Bacteria kill off all the males early in life.
- Animals
Three-toed sloths are even more slothful than two-toed sloths
The three-toed sloth Bradypus variegatus has the lowest field metabolic rate ever recorded, a new study finds.
- Animals
That ‘Dory’ for sale may have been poisoned with cyanide
Preliminary results from a new study show that over half of aquarium fish sold in the United States may have been caught with cyanide.
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For harbor porpoises, the ocean is a 24-hour buffet
Scientists tagged harbor porpoises with monitoring equipment and found that the small cetaceans eat thousands of fish throughout the day.
- Animals
Electric eels play defense with a mighty leap
A biologist finds evidence that a 200-year-old report of electric eels attacking horses may be true.
- Animals
Maximum size of giant squid remains a mystery
A scientist has come up with a new estimate of the maximum size of giant squid. He says the animals could be as long as two public buses.
- Animals
Animals get safe spots to cross the road — and car collisions drop
Over- and underpasses built for wildlife in Wyoming proved a success for both the animals and the humans traveling the roads.
- Animals
Counting cats is hard, but we know the numbers aren’t good
Recent studies highlight the difficulty of counting big cats, but even imperfect counts show that these species are in trouble.
- Animals
For baby sea turtles, it helps to have a lot of siblings
After hatching, baby sea turtles must dig themselves out of their nest. This requires less energy if there are lots of siblings, a new study finds.
- Animals
These mystery mounds are actually giant piles of earthworm poop
The grassy mounds that dot a watery landscape in South America are created by giant earthworms, a new study finds.
