Flamingos live in flocks numbering in the thousands. But these birds are highly selective in who they hang out with.
Category: Biology
By far the most varied and abundant of animals, insects are vital to the biological integrity of macroscopic life on Earth: serving as pollinators of plants (and their corpses fertilizer), food for many animals (notably birds), and ecosystem cleaners.
Some widely successful species, sometimes called “invasive”, outcompete by being versatile, such as having a broad diet. In being euryhaline – able to withstand wide-ranging salinity, the round goby is that. But what got the goby its widespread presence is an inner strength.
The phyllosphere comprises the aboveground parts of plants. Like the belowground rhizosphere, the phyllosphere includes a community of commensal microbes.
Could crocodiles have been behind the JFK assassination? A new study shows strange coincidences.
Vampire bats must feed on fresh blood at least once every 3 days or face starvation. Fortunately, friends share.
Flocks of foraging forest birds are typically a mixture of species. Flocks’ fluid structure illustrate how comity works.
A warming world spells more frequent and more intense wildfires. Animals play a part in engendering the spread of a blaze or tamping it down.
Many orb weaver spiders sport lemony coats: a seemingly odd color choice, except that yellow attracts lunch.
Burying beetles have complex parental care practices. Both parents provide diligent nurturing; though, as in birds and humans, females take the lead.
Pandas are pudgy, short-legged bears. Yet cubs clamber up trees. They do so with using their head.
Many animals panic when they perceive an emergency; not termites.
Immigrant earthworms in the boreal forests of North America are causing trouble.
Olms are aquatic salamanders found exclusively in European caves. Unlike most amphibians, olms live their entire lives underwater.
Bats have wondrous immune systems which are perpetually primed to handle viruses without getting sick. This training ground makes viruses more virulent.
Preferences for foods or mates may be passed to offspring before they are born: the phenomenon of instinct known as precocious knowledge.
Lotus plants do their best to shower their leaves with sunlight.
Butterfly wings are scale-covered complex tissues which do much more than keep these insects aloft.
Plant roots create an ambiance in the soil – the rhizosphere – that helps them manage nutrient provision and thwart pests.
A recent study of insecticide use on American crops found that these biocides have become more toxic to honeybees in the past few decades despite significantly lowered application rates.
Hermit crabs are so called because they tuck themselves into sea shells for protection. The crabs themselves are quite social when the occasion arises, such when new real estate becomes available.
The visual richness of Nature owes to color. The applications of color in life forms clearly indicates that there is a force of design behind the exhibition of existence.
Altruism is common in all kingdoms of life. From an evolutionary perspective, altruism arises when it confers a decided benefit to a population or individuals which practice it.
Tardigrades are tiny, nearly translucent aquatic animals, found all over the world. Tardigrades are commonly known as water bears.
Seed germination illustrates that vital energy is the essentiality of life.