Ecology

Time Now for Some Gnarly Photos of Spiders Eating Other Animals

Spiders are creepy even at the best of times, but new photos taken from the Amazon rainforest put these predatory creatures in an even more fearsome light: as they’re chomping down on animals of unusual sizes. New research published today in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation highlight over a dozen rare predator-on-prey interactions involving arthropods (the…

Biology George Dvorsky Mar 1

Scientists Will Once Again Try to Explore Alien Ecosystem Exposed by Giant Antarctic Iceberg

Last year, a team of scientists embarked on a mission to explore the seafloor exposed when a Delaware-sized iceberg popped off the Antarctic Peninsula in 2017. Frustratingly, their ship had to turn around mid-voyage thanks to impenetrable sea ice. This year, amidst near-record low Antarctic sea ice levels, another team of scientists will make an…

Earther Maddie Stone Feb 4

Iguanas Reintroduced to the Largest Galapagos Island After Nearly 200 Year Absence

In 1835, Charles Darwin documented the presence of iguanas on Santiago island, the largest in the Galapagos archipelago. It probably never dawned on the pioneering naturalist that he would be the last scientist to do so. Invasive species wiped the island clean of iguanas—an ecological void that’s now been filled thanks to an ambitious restoration…

Conservation George Dvorsky Jan 8

Industrial Waste From Ants Emits Potent Greenhouse Gas

New research shows that garbage piles produced by leaf-cutter ants emit significant amounts of nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas. Chemical reactions within the organic waste piles produced by leaf-cutter ants create copious amounts of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, according to new research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. These industrious insects…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 2

The Scientists Who Brave Angry Hawk Parents, Wasps and 80-Foot-Falls to Save Endangered Chicks

Life is hard for Ridgway’s hawks, a species found only in a small sliver of habitat on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Once found all over the island, the hawks have steadily declined due to local humans killing them and clearing their forest habitat. If that weren’t enough, their chicks are threatened by botflies, whose…

Earther Jake Buehler Jan 2

Tropical Lizard With Built-in Scuba Gear Can Stay Submerged for 16 Minutes

Unprecedented footage from Costa Rica shows tiny tropical lizards “breathing” from an air sac suspended atop their snouts—an apparent scuba tank that helps them stay submerged for extended periods. This footage comes courtesy of Lindsey Swierk, an ecologist from Binghamton University in New York. While observing water anoles in southern Costa Rica back in 2015,…

Biology George Dvorsky Dec 21

The Northern Cardinal Is Actually Multiple Species, Evidence Suggests

New scientific results have strengthened the case that the ubiquitous northern cardinal could be two species of bird or more. Scientists most recently performed an analysis of cardinals on either side of a natural barrier that separates two populations of northern cardinals—those in the eastern half of the United States, and those around Arizona and…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Dec 19

The Great Barrier Reef Is Becoming More Heat-Resistant—at a Price

In 2016 and 2017, disaster struck the world’s largest living structure: back-to-back heat waves caused half of all corals on the 1,400-mile-long Great Barrier Reef to die. But there’s a glass-half-full perspective on this grim news, which is that half of the reef’s corals—approximately 10 billion of them—are still alive. And they just went through…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Dec 10

Inside the Quest to Discover Super-Corals at the Bottom of the Sea

In the inky depths of the Gulf of Mexico, pearly white corals crisscross the seafloor, their translucent tentacles swaying to the current like flower petals on a midnight breeze. Lophelia pertusa brings life to what is often considered a cold, dead wasteland—and now, scientists are now bringing it back to the surface in the hopes…

Earther Maddie Stone Nov 22

The Amazon Rainforest Is Adapting to Climate Change, But Not Fast Enough

A 30-year analysis of Amazonian trees finds the world’s largest rainforest is already adapting to climate change, but probably not fast enough. The study, published this week in Global Change Biology, paints what is perhaps our most comprehensive picture of how the Amazon rainforest’s trees are responding to climate change. While the authors found signs…

Earther Maddie Stone Nov 8

How an Earthquake in Japan Triggered an Algae Invasion in the Pacific Northwest

In 2011, a colossal tsunami set off by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake slammed into the eastern shores of Japan. Not long afterwards, some of the 1.5 million tons of floating debris created by the waves, from buoys and boats to entire fishing docks, began washing up along America’s northwest Pacific coast. As revealed by a…

Earther Robin George Andrews Nov 6

Human Medicine Use Loading Up River Creatures With Dozens of Different Drugs

Medicines do an excellent job of increasing the quality of life for humans around the world, but the drugs don’t stay with us forever, and are eventually flushed out into our wastewater. Now, new research suggests that not only are a staggering range of pharmaceutical products getting into the environment and accumulating in animals, they’re…

Conservation Jake Buehler Nov 6

New Story, Same Big Old Bird

Madagascar’s history contains some truly enormous animals, from giant lemurs to giant tortoises. The island was also home to 10-foot-tall flightless birds, which sadly disappeared hundreds of years ago. But how we humans classified those birds was, well, a mess. There seemed to be 15 species of elephant birds before this most recent study, but…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Sep 26

Diseased Ocean Microbes Could Be Messing With the Weather

Our oceans are brimming with microscopic phytoplankton—plant-like organisms that contribute significantly to marine diversity. Tiny though they are, these sea critters, when infected with a particular virus, may influence atmospheric processes such as cloud formation, according to new research. A ubiquitous, bloom-forming phytoplankton known as Emiliania huxleyi is plagued by a virus known as EhV.…

Earth Science George Dvorsky Aug 15

Here’s How an Absurd Primate Ended Up With Squirrel Teeth

The aye-aye is about as ridiculous looking as a primate can get: beady yellow eyes, bat-like ears, and hands like horrible spiders. But perhaps its most interesting feature is its teeth. Over millions of years, species on Earth have developed seemingly unique adaptations that help them survive in challenging environments. But sometimes, totally different species…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 3

These Australian Birds Learn About Danger by Listening to Their Friends

If you heard a bear roar for the first time but didn’t see the snarling beast, what would you think? Would you be scared? Maybe, but maybe not—the forest is full of strange noises. But what if, at the same time, one of your friends said, “Holy shit, I know all about that clawed monster…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 2

A Warming Antarctica Could Be Primed For Invasive Species

In 2017, marine biologist Erasmo Macaya was shocked to discover bits of kelp on the remote Antarctic island of King George, hundreds of miles from its natural habitat. He knew he’d found something strange, but he wasn’t aware he’d just uncovered evidence of a journey spanning over 10,000 miles—one that could portend a mass migration…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Jul 17

Scientist Loses Distinguished Award After Acceptance Presentation Full of Racy Photos

The Herpetologists’ League rescinded its annual Distinguished Herpetologist award after winner Dick Vogt showed racy photos during his acceptance address. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports: According to several attendees, Vogt, a longtime researcher of Brazilian turtles, showed several pictures of “scantily clad female students” doing field research. The photographs were risqué enough that conference…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jul 16

The Arctic’s Metabolism Is Speeding Up, and That’s Bad

The Arctic tundra keeps an enormous amount of carbon in check in its soils, but as the region warms, that carbon could start leaking back into the atmosphere in a big way. A new study adds fuel to this concern by showing that at the longest-monitored site in the Arctic, our planet’s metabolism is speeding…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Jul 11

Looks Like Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Noise Pollution, After All

Humans and their constant barrage of noise cause all sorts of problems for wildlife. But new research suggests noise pollution may do more than impact individual animals—it can potentially modify whole ecosystems by messing with how predators interact with their prey. How did scientists figure this out? By blasting plants and insects with AC/DC, of…

Conservation Jake Buehler Jul 11

Time Now for Some Gnarly Photos of Spiders Eating Other Animals

Scientists Will Once Again Try to Explore Alien Ecosystem Exposed by Giant Antarctic Iceberg

Iguanas Reintroduced to the Largest Galapagos Island After Nearly 200 Year Absence

Industrial Waste From Ants Emits Potent Greenhouse Gas

The Scientists Who Brave Angry Hawk Parents, Wasps and 80-Foot-Falls to Save Endangered Chicks

Tropical Lizard With Built-in Scuba Gear Can Stay Submerged for 16 Minutes

The Northern Cardinal Is Actually Multiple Species, Evidence Suggests

The Great Barrier Reef Is Becoming More Heat-Resistant—at a Price

Inside the Quest to Discover Super-Corals at the Bottom of the Sea

The Amazon Rainforest Is Adapting to Climate Change, But Not Fast Enough

How an Earthquake in Japan Triggered an Algae Invasion in the Pacific Northwest

Human Medicine Use Loading Up River Creatures With Dozens of Different Drugs

New Story, Same Big Old Bird

Diseased Ocean Microbes Could Be Messing With the Weather

Here’s How an Absurd Primate Ended Up With Squirrel Teeth

These Australian Birds Learn About Danger by Listening to Their Friends

A Warming Antarctica Could Be Primed For Invasive Species

Scientist Loses Distinguished Award After Acceptance Presentation Full of Racy Photos

The Arctic’s Metabolism Is Speeding Up, and That’s Bad

Looks Like Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Noise Pollution, After All

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See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

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