Conservation
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.
Stories by Jason G. Goldman
Chemistry
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.
Biology
Shorebird Learns Long Migration Routes
Cory’s shearwaters forge their own paths over the sea
Public Health
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.
Environment
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
Evolution
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.
Chemistry
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.
Behavior & Society
Flamingos Can Be Picky about Company
They don’t stand on one leg around just anybody but often prefer certain members of the flock.
Environment
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.
Conservation
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.
Neuroscience
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.
Evolution
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.
Environment
Coyotes Eat Everything from Fruits to Cats
The diets of coyotes vary widely, depending on whether they live in rural, suburban or urban environments—but pretty much anything is fair game.
Biology
Sick Vampire Bats Restrict Grooming to Close Family
When vampire bats feel sick, they still engage in prosocial acts such as sharing food with nonrelatives. But they cut back on grooming anyone other than their closest kin.
Biology
Blood Ties: Vampire Bats Build Trust to Become Food-Sharing Pals
New research examines how the animals begin close, blood-sharing partnerships
Biology
Burned Habitats Benefit Bats
Bats proliferate in forests thinned by fire
Environment
Pablo Escobar’s Hippos Could Endanger Colombian Ecology
Hippos that escaped from drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s private zoo are reproducing in the wild. And with increasing numbers, they could threaten ecosystems.
Conservation
Indigenous Lands Ace Biodiversity Measurements
Across the board, indigenous-managed regions equal or surpass conventional conservation areas
Weather
Facts about Groundhogs Other Than Their Poor Meteorology
Groundhogs are less accurate at weather forecasting than are coin flips, but they are nonetheless pretty interesting critters.
Policy & Ethics
Citizen Scientists Deserve Journal Status Upgrade
Here’s an argument that citizen scientists deserve co-authorship on scientific journal papers to which they contributed research.
