Life can be a struggle for power – not just for people but for nonhuman animals, too. An animal behaviorist explains how this quest can be more Shakespearean drama than boxing match.
A proposed scientific name is frenetic random activity periods (FRAPs). In rabbits, these high activity periods are called ‘binkies’. But many cat and dog-owners simply call them ‘zoomies’.
Invasive rats can fundamentally alter the functioning of surrounding marine ecosystems.
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A scholar of law and humanities compares bans on dogs with any pit bull genes to “one drop” laws that once classified people with even a single Black ancestor as Black.
It is the oldest and most prolific cancer known in nature.
Photographing a bear in Yellowstone National Park at a distance the National Park Service calls safe – at least 100 yards from a predator.
Jim Peaco, NPS/Flickr
The recent goring of a tourist who approached within 10 feet of a bison in Yellowstone National Park is a reminder that wild animals can be dangerous and people should keep safe distances.
The miniature brains of honeybees were able to understand the concepts of odd and even, despite only having 960,000 neurons (compared to 86 billion in humans).
Great white sharks are not normally thought of as social creatures.
Yannis Papastamatiou
Researchers have discovered that great white sharks are more social than previously thought. Using specialized tags, they tracked six sharks and found that some stay close to each other when hunting.
Murmurations can have as many as 750,000 birds flying in unison.
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These coordinated movements of a flock of starlings follow no plan or leader. Scientists used to think the animals must communicate via ESP to create these fast-moving blobs.
There’s plenty of aggression in the bird world, but little armed violence.
Velvet Shearer, USFWS/Flickr
Birds will shriek and dive at each other over food, territory or mates, but only a small number of species sport actual weapons. The reason: Flying matters more for their survival than fighting.
Wild dogs are usually with their pack mates.
Scott Creel
African wild dogs are used to evading hyenas and lions. Genetic research suggests they are using the same strengths to get around human development as well.
Climbers must climb, diggers must dig and runners must run.
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