How Crows Remember Human Faces for Years
A person walks through a city park while an American crow watches from a nearby tree. To a human observer, there may be nothing unusual about the encounter. But suppose …
Wildlife
Grasshopper Mouse vs. Scorpion Venom: How It Survives the Sting
Night has settled over the desert of the American Southwest. Between scattered rocks and dry vegetation, a southern grasshopper mouse moves toward a bark scorpion—dangerous prey armed with a venomous …
How Pallas’s Cats Survive Extreme Cold With Dense Fur and a Remarkable Tail
Among the wind-scoured rocks of Central Asia, a Pallas’s cat can appear almost motionless against the winter landscape. Snow collects between boulders, temperatures fall far below freezing, and vegetation offers …
How Peregrine Falcons Reach 240+ MPH Without Injuring Themselves
A peregrine falcon high above the landscape can transform from a soaring bird into one of nature’s most extraordinary high-speed predators in seconds. During its specialized hunting dive, known as …
Kinkajou Feet: How This Rainforest Mammal Climbs Down Trees Headfirst
After sunset in a tropical American forest, a kinkajou may emerge from a tree hollow and begin moving through a world of trunks, vines and overlapping branches. Its movements can …
Why the “Alpha Wolf” Theory Is a Myth (And What Wolf Packs Are Really Like)
For decades, wolves have been portrayed as locked in a constant struggle for status. According to the familiar story, every pack has a powerful “alpha male” who fights his way …
Why Octopuses Have Three Hearts and Blue Blood
An octopus already looks like an animal designed by a very imaginative engineer: eight flexible arms, hundreds of suckers, remarkable camouflage, and a nervous system unlike our own. But some …
How Octopuses Change Color Faster Than the Human Eye Can Track
An octopus can rest against a pale patch of sand, move toward a reef, and suddenly appear mottled with browns, creams, and dark patches. This extraordinary octopus camouflage is not …
This Tiny Animal Escapes by Releasing a Spring-Like Fork Under Its Body
On a damp forest floor, a springtail moves through a landscape that, at its scale, is enormous. Moss stems rise around it. Fungal threads cross fragments of decomposing leaves, and …
This Icefish Lives Without Functional Hemoglobin in Its Blood
Beneath Antarctic sea ice, seawater hovers close to its freezing point. Light filters through cracks in the ice, illuminating a world of sponges, crustaceans, and fishes whose bodies have been …