Fiddler crabs and snapping shrimp rely on enlarged claws to impress or fight off members of their own species—and the bigger the weapon, the better the odds of winning over a mate. But large appendages can be a real energy drain. “[It’s] this kind of slow burn of a cost that happens all the time,”
Deep below the ocean—3,000 feet beneath the surface, where sunlight cannot seep—the sea is smothered in a cold, inky darkness. But a bobbing bright light sometimes breaks through the abyss. The glimmering shades of blue and green mesmerize curious fish and squid, tempting them closer. They likely think that they’ve stumbled upon a prized floating
Not every owl is a night owl. Of the 200-plus owl species that fly the world today, the vast majority are nocturnal or crepuscular and hunt at dusk, night, or dawn. But a select few are diurnal or cathemeral, meaning they’re most active in the daytime, or really, anytime. This can be determined by a
The following is an excerpt from The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent by Danielle J. Whittaker. Copyright 2022. Published with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press. “Birds don’t have a sense of smell, so I don’t understand why you’d study that anyway.” This extraordinary statement, expressed offhandedly by neurobiologist Dr. Jim Goodson while we
Somewhere in the last decade, in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, a parrot learned to pull the lid off of a trash can. First it stood on the edge of the lid and, bending head over heels, pried open a gap with its beak. With the lid in its mouth, it stepped onto the bin’s
Cone snails might seem unassuming, if not beautiful in their colorful shells, but these ocean-floor invertebrates are regular marine murderers. As a fish swims nearby, the predator, which can grow up to 9 inches long, will slowly creep out its tongue-like proboscis. In a flash, the creature will harpoon its meal and pump it full
If you’ve ever done a group project, you’ll know that perhaps the most difficult part is figuring out who is going to do what and trusting everyone to follow through. As it turns out, a species of social spiders might have cracked the code on how to work together while hunting. Last week, researchers from
Interest in squirrels have become increasingly popular in the past few years, especially during the pandemic. Due to the lack of human-to-human interaction, some turned to their dexterous backyard neighbors for entertainment. In fact, if you search “squirrel obstacle course” you’ll find a plethora of videos—some with over 75 million views—documenting the jumps, leaps, and
At dusk in late September and early October, The Wadden Sea National Park on the West Coast of Denmark hosts one of nature’s wildest and most intriguing displays of avian acrobatics. In what’s known, somewhat ominously, as the “The Black Sun” (Sort Sol in Danish), droves of migrating starlings perform seemingly coordinated acts of aerial
THE NATURAL WORLD is not always a calm place. Every day, animals from the ocean floor to the highest treetops struggle to live, breed, and eat. Their existential endeavors make many of our modern stressors seem placid by comparison. But we still seek out signs of serenity in the wild—and if we press the camera
