Imagine an octopus moving across the ocean floor while carrying part of a coconut shell beneath its body. After reaching a suitable location, it stops, arranges the shell, and uses …
The strange world of praying mantis cannibalistic mating has produced one of the most persistent myths in nature: that a female praying mantis always kills and eats the male after …
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 …
The reason why birds fly in a V formation is much stranger than simply staying together. Every bird creates an invisible trail of swirling air behind its wings. A bird …
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 …
Floating on its back in a patch of coastal water, a sea otter may look relaxed. But when it places a clam or marine snail against a stone and strikes …
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 …
At first glance, a scorpionfly looks slightly alarming. Its elongated face, patterned wings, and—in males of many species—a bulbous, upturned genital structure can create the impression of an insect armed …
A small tropical lizard dives beneath the surface of a stream. Instead of immediately swimming back toward air, it settles underwater. Then something unusual appears around its snout: a silvery …
A black-tailed prairie dog stands upright beside its burrow, watching movement across the grassland. A potential predator is approaching. Seconds later, a sharp vocalization carries through the colony, and nearby …