How Flying Squirrels Glide Instead of Fly
Flying squirrels have one of the most misleading names in the animal kingdom. They can cross impressive gaps between trees, turn in midair, and make controlled landings, but they never …
Mammals
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
How 190-Year-Old Museum DNA Revealed a Hidden Pangolin Species
For nearly two centuries, a pangolin specimen collected in Nepal sat in a natural-history collection carrying evidence that scientists could not fully read when it was collected. Modern analysis of …
The New Research Behind Why Bats Rarely Get Cancer
Bats present biologists with a remarkable puzzle. Many species are tiny, maintain demanding metabolisms, encounter numerous pathogens, and yet can live far longer than similarly sized mammals. New research on …
Why the Pronghorn Is Still Built to Outrun an Extinct Predator
Across the open landscapes of western North America, the pronghorn can accelerate into a run that seems excessive for the predators pursuing it today. That mismatch has inspired one of …
Why the Fennec Fox’s Ears Are So Disproportionately Large
Few mammals look as immediately adapted to their environment as the fennec fox. Its compact body, pale coat, furry feet, and especially its enormous ears all reflect life in the …
The Colugo: The Mammal With the Most Extreme Gliding Membrane
High in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia lives a mammal that appears to turn almost its entire body into a wing. The remarkable colugo gliding membrane stretches from the …