Why Katydids Have Ears on Their Front Legs
If you looked for a katydid’s ears, its head would be the obvious place to start. You would also be looking in the wrong place. The remarkable katydid ears on …
How Pistol Shrimp Produce One of the Loudest Sounds in the Ocean
A pistol shrimp is only a few centimeters long, yet it can produce an underwater sound powerful enough to compete with some of the loudest biological noises in the sea. …
How Bee-Eaters Catch and Eat Bees Without Ever Getting Stung
Catching a bee in midair is impressive. Swallowing one without being stung requires another level of specialization. The famous bee-eater sting removal behavior solves that problem through a carefully coordinated …
Planarian Flatworms: The Animal You Can Cut Into Pieces and Multiply
Cut many animals in half and the result is catastrophic injury. Cut certain planarian flatworms into appropriately sized fragments, however, and something extraordinary can happen: separate pieces can rebuild the …
Why Blue-Footed Boobies Choose Mates Based on Foot Color
Few courtship displays are as instantly recognizable as a blue-footed booby lifting one brilliant turquoise foot after another in an exaggerated high-stepping dance. The performance looks comical to human observers, …
How Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert Without Drinking Water
A kangaroo rat emerges from its burrow after sunset. The desert surface that was dangerously hot only hours earlier is beginning to cool. The small rodent pauses, listens, and then …
How Spotted Hyenas Crush and Digest Bones Other Predators Leave Behind
A spotted hyena approaches the remains of an ungulate carcass. Much of the obvious meat may already be gone, but the carcass is far from nutritionally irrelevant. Skin, connective tissue, …
How Orangutans Build Sleeping Nests High in the Rainforest
As daylight fades over a Southeast Asian rainforest, an orangutan moving through the canopy begins looking for somewhere to spend the night. There is no permanent bedroom waiting. Instead, the …
How Mistletoebirds Spread Mistletoe From Branch to Branch
A Bird Eats a Berry — and a Plant May Appear Somewhere Else High in an Australian woodland, a male mistletoebird moves among branches carrying clusters of ripe mistletoe fruit. …
How Young Sea Turtles Navigate Using Earth’s Magnetic Field
A newly hatched loggerhead sea turtle reaches the edge of the beach and enters an ocean that, from its perspective, contains no road signs, trail markers, or familiar landmarks. Soon, …