All Stories by Jake Buehler
- Animals
Birds are singing longer, thanks to light pollution
In light-polluted areas, birds spend an average of 50 minutes more per day singing. It’s unclear how that extra time might hurt or help the birds.
- Animals
Horses became gentle and easy to ride thanks to two gene mutations
Horse breeders altered two genes by targeting certain traits in horses. One made the animals tamer. Another made their backs sturdy enough to carry riders.
- Fossils
North American rhinos once gathered in large, hippo-like herds
The stumpy-legged rhinos survived until about 12 million years ago, when a supervolcano’s ashfall smothered their world.
- Animals
Some iguanas may have rafted across the Pacific 30 million years ago
The iguanas' epic 8,000-kilometer trip — one-fifth of Earth’s circumference — may be the longest made by a flightless land vertebrate.
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As the climate warms, polar bears are facing more germs
Polar bears have been exposed to more viruses, bacteria and parasites in recent decades, a new study shows. These may come from their diet.
- Oceans
Underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean may be home to 20 new species
A recent expedition to undersea mountain ranges off the coast of Chile revealed a new seamount and a rich world of deep-sea biodiversity.
- Plants
This squid-like ‘fairy lantern’ plant is new to science
A newly named species of fairy lantern — a parasitic plant — sports tentacles and grows among leaf litter and rotten logs in Malaysian rainforests.
- Animals
Corals may have been the first life forms to glow in the dark
Ancestors of modern octocorals may have lit up the deep sea as far back as 540 million years ago.
- Animals
This egg-laying amphibian feeds its babies ‘milk’
Similar to mammals, this caecilian — an egg-laying amphibian — makes a nutrient-rich, milk-like fluid to feed its babies up to six times a day.
- Animals
Horned lizards and snakes tend to ambush their prey
The reptiles’ horns could help or hinder during foraging, depending on how they hunt. This might be why horns evolved in some species and not others.
- Animals
Bonobos cooperate across social groups — even with no clear payoff
Bonobos cooperate with outsiders, even when they get no clear benefit out of it. This could shed light on social evolution in other primates, even us.
- Animals
These penguins nap 10,000 times a day, for seconds at a time
Such an extreme sleep schedule may help nesting chinstrap penguins protect their young while still getting more than 11 hours of shut-eye.
