Sandfish Lizard Sand Swimming: How It Moves Underground
On the surface of a North African dune, a small golden skink pauses for an instant. Then it lowers its wedge-shaped head into the loose sand, drives forward, and disappears. …
Wildlife
Saharan Silver Ant Heat Adaptation: Surviving Scorching Sand
At midday in the Sahara, sunlight beats down on exposed dunes and surface temperatures can climb toward 60–70°C (140–158°F). During this dangerous period, tiny silver ants emerge from underground and …
Weaver Ant Nest Building: How Larvae Become Silk Tools
High in a tropical tree, several worker ants grip the edges of separate living leaves with their mandibles and pull. When the gap is too wide for a single worker, …
Peacock Spider Courtship: Color, Vibration and Dance
At a scale of only a few millimeters, a male peacock spider approaches a female. He raises his elongated third pair of legs, elevates his brilliantly patterned abdomen, and begins …
Greater Honeyguide Human Cooperation: How Birds Lead People to Honey
In a dry woodland in southeastern Africa, a honey hunter produces a distinctive rolling call. From somewhere among the trees, a greater honeyguide answers. The person calls again, the bird …
Thorny Devil Water Transport: How Its Skin Channels Water
Rain has darkened a patch of red Australian desert sand. A thorny devil moves across the wet surface, and liquid touching its body disappears into microscopic spaces associated with its …
Orca Hunting Traditions: How Killer Whales Learn to Hunt
A young killer whale travels beside its mother and other experienced members of its social group as they search for prey. When the adults accelerate, dive, circle a school of …
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 …
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 …