Why a Raccoon’s Paws Are So Sensitive
Watch a raccoon investigate a stream bank and its front paws rarely stay still. The long, mobile digits probe beneath stones, rotate objects, feel along surfaces, and gather information even …
Animal Adaptations
Moose Antler Regeneration: How They Rebuild Massive Antlers
A bull moose walks through a northern forest carrying something extraordinary above its head: a huge structure made of bone that its body built in only a matter of months. …
Vulture Stomach Acid: How Vultures Survive Eating Carrion
A vulture drops from a wide circle in the sky and lands beside the remains of a dead animal. To us, the meal may look like something to avoid. As …
Why Reindeer Eyes Change Between Arctic Summer and Winter
For months of the Arctic summer, reindeer can live under almost continuous daylight. Then winter arrives and their visual world shifts toward prolonged darkness and extended blue twilight. Remarkably, reindeer …
How Dragonflies Control Four Wings for Remarkably Agile Flight
A dragonfly hovering over a pond can suddenly accelerate, bank into a tight turn, reverse direction, or intercept a flying insect with extraordinary precision. Behind those maneuvers is an unusual …
How Asymmetrical Ears Help Owls Locate Hidden Prey
An owl gliding over a dark field may be hunting an animal it can barely see. In some highly specialized species, owl asymmetrical ears provide additional information about where faint …
How the Nautilus Shell Helps Control Buoyancy and Depth
A chambered nautilus drifting along a deep reef slope carries one of the most distinctive buoyancy systems in the ocean. Nautilus buoyancy control depends partly on the animal’s coiled external …
How Wood Storks Hunt by Touch in Murky Wetlands
A wood stork walking through a shallow marsh may look as though it is simply probing the water. In reality, it is using one of the most specialized feeding techniques …
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 …
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 …