These Small Mammals Snort to a Different Tune
Hyraxes, which live in Africa and the Middle East, punctuate their songs with snorts. And the snorts appear to reflect the animals’ emotional state. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Stories by Jason G. Goldman
Why Pet Pigs Are More like Wolves Than Dogs
Given an impossible task, a dog will ask a human for help, but a wolf will not seek help—and neither will a pet pig.
White Rhinos Eavesdrop to Know Who’s Who
The finding could potentially help wildlife managers keep better tabs on their herds. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Aardvarks Are Ailing amid Heat and Drought
Climate change is expected to bring more frequent droughts and heat waves to Africa’s Kalahari Desert. And aardvarks might not be able to cope. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Foxes Have Dined on Our Leftovers for 30,000 Years
An analysis of fox fossils found evidence that they scavenged from wolf and bear kills until Homo sapiens supplied plenty of horse and reindeer remains.
Why Some Birds Are Likely To Hit Buildings
Those that eat insects, migrate or usually live in the woods are most likely to fly into buildings that feature a lot of glass.
Bat Says Hi as It Hunts
Velvety free-tailed bats produce sounds that help them locate insect prey but simultaneously identify them to their companions.
Young Great White Sharks Eat off the Floor
The stomach contents of young great white sharks show that they spend a lot of time patrolling the seafloor for meals.
Whale Protections Need Not Cause Lobstering Losses
Right whales, other whales and turtles get caught in lobster trap lines, but fewer lines can maintain the same lobster catch levels.
Bioluminescence Helps Prey Avoid Hungry Seals
Prey animals flash biochemically produced light to confuse elephant seals hunting in the dark. But at least one seal turned the tables.
Shorebird Learns Long Migration Routes
Cory’s shearwaters forge their own paths over the sea
Malaria Mosquitoes Are Biting before Bed-Net Time
Mosquitoes that like to bite at night are being thwarted by bed nets, leading to the rise of populations that prefer to bite when the nets are not up yet.
How the Coronavirus Has Changed Animals’ Landscape of Fear
The pandemic lockdowns are providing a window into how a wariness of humans uniquely shapes other species’ behavior
Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatch Mates
Food sharing is mainly found in adult animals as a part of social bonding. But in a rarely observed behavior in birds, older barn owl chicks will share food with younger ones.
Lemur Flirting Uses Common Scents
To entice female ring-tailed lemurs, males rub wrist secretions, which include compounds we use in perfumes, onto their tail and then wave it near the gals.
Flamingos Can Be Picky about Company
They don’t stand on one leg around just anybody but often prefer certain members of the flock.
Tapirs Help Reforestation via Defecation
The large herbivores appear to prefer disturbed areas over more intact ones and spread many more seeds in those places through their droppings.
New Data on Killer House Cats
Wild cats kill more animals than domestic ones do. But pet cats kill many more of them in a small area than similarly sized wild predators.
Red-Winged Blackbirds Understand Yellow Warbler Alarms
Researchers studying yellow warbler responses to the parasitic cowbird realized that red-winged blackbirds were eavesdropping on the calls and reacting to them, too.
What’s a Narwhal’s Tusk For?
Although the tusk can be a weapon, the variation in tusk length among animals of similar body size points to it being primarily a mating status signal.
