Zoology

Rats remember acts of kindness, and then reciprocate. A study published this week inBiology Letters showed rats remember who is nice to them and return the favor later.National Geographiccalls it “the first evidence of direct reciprocation in nonhumans.” We’re not so sure about that last part, but it’s an impressive finding, nonetheless.

Gorgeous Banknotes Feature Flora, Fauna—And Skeletons Under UV Light

For her Master’s project, graphic designer Barbara Bernát created a fictional currency she calls the Hungarian Euro. Instead of people or monuments, the obverse and reverse of Bernat’s notes feature beautiful illustrations of European animals and plants; beneath UV light, the skeletal anatomies of the former become visible. Photos by Richárd Kelemen, all images used…

Why So Many Species Are Discovered In Museum Storage

The latest episode of the American Museum of Natural History’s outstanding series “Shelf Life” is about the discovery of the olinguito, a ridiculously adorable species of mammal first identified in 2013 – ninety years after its remains were first collected, in 1923. The story of the olinguito’s discovery is common among newly identified species. In…

City’s Owl Problem Got So Bad, It Had To Make This Awesome Sign

A spate of owl attacks in Salem Oregon’s Bush’s State Park has spurred park officials to install twenty signs that depict an owl with outstretched talons descending upon a hapless, terror-stricken stick figure. Photo Credit: Danielle Peterson, via The Statesman Journal The Associated Press reports that the signs were inspired in large part by MSNBC…

A Baleen Whale Skull Conducts Sound ‘Like An Acoustic Antenna’

Researchers used computer models and high-powered simulations to confirm that whales’ skulls have evolved to act “like an acoustic antenna,” amplifying and transmitting low-frequency sounds (hypothesized to be important in long-range communication) toward the ears. Above: Left lateral view of the skull bones in a fin whale, via Cranford and Krysl Erin Blakemore describes how…

Rare Fox Spotted In Yosemite For The First Time In Nearly 100 Years

For the first time in nearly a century (!), a Sierra Nevada red fox has been sighted in Yosemite National Park. Above: A photo of the Sierra Nevada Red Fox taken by Yosemite’s motion-sensitive camera | Photo Credit: NPS Photo Two photographs of the critically endangered animal were captured by motion-sensing cameras in the far-northern…

10 Grossest Bug Parts, Ranked

All insects possess the same fundamental body plan: A head, a thorax, and an abdomen. It is a testament to nature’s twisted creativity that some of the grossest body parts in the animal kingdom can be found bursting, curling, and wiggling from these segments. Here are the 10 most repulsive insect body parts of all.…

This Rare Bird Is Half-Male And Half-Female

This bi-colored northern cardinal has female plumage on its right, and male plumage on its left. Called a “gynandromorph,” these animals are rare in nature. Rarer still is the chance to study one for extended periods of time — but researchers recently had such a chance with the bird you see here. Photo Credit: Brian…

People Getting Too Close to Lions at the Zoo is Not a New Phenomenon

Every few years, we see cases of people going into enclosures at zoos, wanting to “make friends” with animals. It always ends badly. And, as it turns out, this is not a new phenomenon. Even as habitats are shrinking and species are disappearing, the world never goes more than a few years without an attack…

Camera-Traps Detect “Extinct” Wallabies In Western Australia

Using strategically placed camera-traps, conservationists in Australia have found signs of spectacled hare wallabies — a species that hasn’t been seen in the area for the past 10 years. Prior to the recent discovery, the last spectacled hare wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus) to be seen at Roebuck Plains was a single road kill 10 years ago.…

Watch The First-Ever Footage Of A “Black Seadevil”

Researchers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have acquired footage of Melanocetus (aka “the Black Seadevil”), a species of anglerfish never before filmed alive in its natural, deep-sea habitat. Here’s the video, with more details, from MBARI: On Monday, November 17, MBARI Senior Scientist Bruce Robison was leading an [sic] dive using the remotely…

These Larvae Glow in the Dark, Then Eat You

Well, they’ll only eat you if you’re a tasty insect. A few years ago, wildlife photographer Jeff Cremer was traipsing about the Peruvian rainforest when he noticed some glowing green dots scattered in the dirt. He returned to investigate with some entomologists. After checking the dots out, the scientists suspect they’re click beetle larvae. Cremer…

Why Are All the Sea Stars Dying?

For the last year and a half, sea stars all along North America’s Pacific coast – from Baja California all the way to Alaska – have been withering away into nothingness. Today, researchers announced they’ve found the culprit: it’s a virus. Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) has been known for several decades at least, but…

This Is As Close To A Real Unicorn As We’re Going To Get

A hunter in Slovenia recently stumbled upon a creature sporting a single, unicorn-like antler at the top of its head. But could it really be the mythical creature of yore? Photo: Eva Klevska, National Geographic — Slovenia. It may look like something right out of a fantasy book, but it’s very real: It’s the remains…

Researcher Who Found ‘Puppy Sized Spider’ Received Death Threats

Last month, Harvard entomologist Piotr Naskrecki’s wrote a blog post about finding a “puppy-sized” spider in South America. The post went viral. A few days later, Naskrecki was receiving death threats. Why? For collecting one of the specimens he described in his post, and placing it in a museum. Naskrecki appeared on NPR yesterday to…

Jane Goodall To John Oliver: “I Don’t Like You”

John Oliver sat down with primatologist Jane Goodall recently to discuss the “objectivity” of scientific research and, more importantly, brainstorm dirty chimp names. It was a surprisingly productive meeting, notwithstanding Goodall’s feelings toward Oliver. Seriously, though. Jane Goodall is the best.

The U.S. Is Spending $4.5-Million To Save The Rarest Fish On Earth

The (4.5-) million dollar question is: Should it be? Above: Four Devils Hole pupfish, photographed in 2010 by Olin Feuerbacher for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Today, there are fewer than 100 left. The fish in question is the Devils Hole pupfish. One of the first species to be protected by the Endangered Species…

A New Frog Species Has Been Discovered … In New York City

Introducing Rana kauffeldi, the first amphibian to be discovered in New York since the Fowler’s toad in 1882. Crazily enough, the elusive ‘cryptic’ leopard frog has gone unnoticed elsewhere; the darned thing is widespread along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Details of the new frog are being reported in the scientific journal PLOS…

This Spider Built Its Web Inside A Leaf

Paris-based photographer Bertrand Kulik captured these whimsical images of a spider whose web looks like it’s holding together a perforated leaf. Photos featured by kind permission of Bertrand Kulik. This spider may not be “terrifyingly brilliant,” but it’s certainly incidentally photogenic. https://gizmodo.com/terrifyingly-brilliant-spider-creates-stunningly-advanc-1643278204 H/t Colossal!

A Guide To The Ravenous Hellbeast That Is The Carnivorous Caterpillar

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.” So said Marie Curie, a brilliant scientist who had clearly never heard of the horrifying Hawaiian caterpillars that dine on living flesh. Here, we explore how evolution came to play this cruel joke on us all. Note: All animations feature in this…