Stories by Elizabeth Anne Brown

Bruce the Kea parrot is missing the upper half of his beak, but he has turned this disability into a weapon to keep subordinates in line

These tiny fish use friction to put human rock climbers to shame

A massive bloom of rimu berries fueled a mating surge among the world’s heaviest (and strangest) parrots

Extremophile molds are invading art museums and devouring their collections. Stigma and climate change have fueled their spread

Cliff-rappelling scientists uncovered a crossbow bolt, part of a slingshot and 25 shoes in ancient vulture nesting sites

Massaging one another with kelp could help orcas keep their skin healthy

The Danish government deputized private detectorists to unearth artifacts buried in farm fields. Their finds are revealing the country’s past in extraordinary detail

The velvet worm’s extraordinary goo could inspire recyclable bioplastics

The Hawaiian crow, or ‘alalā, has been extinct in the wild since 2002. A new effort to reintroduce birds of this species—considered important guides to the souls of the dead in Hawaiian tradition—is underway

Two injured sea creatures merged to form a “Franken-jelly”

Cave fish develop taste buds on their head and below their chin—and even in humans, taste cells grow in truly unexpected locations

Scientists finally know how a gelatinous deep-sea creature keeps its cells from paralysis under pressure

Sound recording could take a cue from arachnid acoustics

A rice-grain-size fish screams louder than a jackhammer—and we have a lot to learn from its minuscule brain

A humble thistle blossom in southern Spain somehow keeps itself up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the surrounding air

Chimpanzee “helicopter moms” often protect their offspring from bullies, but bonobo moms are more hands-off

These froglets disguise themselves as feces to gross out potential predators until they’re old enough to glide through jungle canopies

The goofy-looking elephantnose fish “sees” its environment in three dimensions by creating a weak electric field and doing a little shimmy