WEIRD ANIMALS
It’s changing the definition of what an animal can be. By Scottie Andrew, CNN – These are the spores of a game-changing parasite called Henneguya salminicola. It’s the first animal found that doesn’t breathe oxygen. – You’d think all animals would need oxygen …
By Joel Berger, Colorado State University and Jon Beckmann, University of Nevada, Reno – Bighorn sheep on grassland in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Joel Berger, CC BY-ND. – In the grip of winter, the North American prairies can look deceptively barren. But many …
Researchers suspect a genetic mutation may have gifted the giant fish, named Inspector Clouseau, his rosy hue. Inspector Clouseau, the world’s only known pink manta ray (Kristian Laine / Instagram). By Katherine J. Wu, smithsonianmag.com – Just in time for the rosiest holiday …
By Joanna McKittrick and Jae-Young Jung – Slamming a beak against the trunk of a tree would seem like an activity that would cause headaches, jaw aches and serious neck and brain injuries. Yet woodpeckers can do this 20 times per second and …
By Nick Lavars – The idea of seals clapping may not seem all that surprising, but it has never been observed underwater in the wild before. Paradoxdes/Depositphotos. – Different creatures seek to attract mates in different ways, whether that be a peacock spreading …
By Michael Irving – A honeybee with a parasitic Varroa mite attached to its back. Alex Wild / University of Texas at Austin. – The world is losing huge numbers of honeybees to colony collapse disorder (CCD), which has devastating implications for global ecosystems …
By Scottie Andrew, CNN – So — some sharks walk. Just not the scary ones. While great whites haunt the deep, walking sharks are content to scuttle in the shallows. – They’ve been walking, or something close to it, for at least 9 …
Stunned by chilly weather, the invasive lizards were dropping out of trees in the Sunshine State. Despite how this iguana looks, it is actually not dead, just cold-stunned. It will likely thaw-out as the sun warms it back up. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel …
Thousands of bodies washed up on North America’s Pacific coast. Study finds common murres probably died of starvation. Dead common murres lie washed up on a rocky beach in Whittier, Alaska, on 7 January 2016. Photograph: Mark Thiessen/AP – By Kenya Evelyn in …
A new study has found that the animals use distinct vocalizations across a range of emotional contexts. Researcher Alexandra Green, recording cows (Lynne Gardner/University of Sydney). By Brigit Katz, Smithsonianmag.com – Should you encounter a herd of cows munching on a field of …
