nature news Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

2-minute read

Something unusual happened in New York City last week—the skyline disappeared. Plumes of smoke emanating from the hundreds of wildfires blazing across Canada’s boreal forest descended over the Eastern seaboard, and in just a few hours, Manhattan’s skyscrapers faded out, obscured by an eerie orange haze. As visibility plummeted, so did air quality, topping out at a hazardous to everyone 352 on the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI). The particle pollution generated from wildfires that made it hard to see also made it difficult and dangerous to breathe.

While the air quality in NYC and other East Coast urban areas returned to a healthier range this week, city residents learned firsthand that you don’t have to be a forest inhabitant to experience the life-disrupting impacts of extreme wildfires. As the planet heats up and the number and intensity of wildfires continue to increase, scientists are exploring options to remove particulate matter and other pollutants from the air in high-population areas. One nature-based solution that both cleans and cools the air in cities and improves overall health and well-being: more green space.

If Orange is the New Blue, is Green the New Black?
Environmental scientists have concluded that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to remove heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere. New research has shown that leafy green sky vacuums are also absolute champs at filtering particle pollution that accumulates in high-density urban areas and is hazardous to human health. Researchers studying the absorption capacity of diverse types of trees found that while many species are effective air purifiers, one type, in particular, is good at absorbing particulates—pines.

Studies comparing the needles of evergreen pine trees to the leaves of seasonally shedding trees, including birch, poplar, beech, and ash trees, show that pine needles have the greatest year-round and longer-term potential to absorb particulate matter pollution. Air quality models created by scientists at the University of Graz factoring in leaf shape, texture, and wind patterns found that one square kilometer of pine forest planted throughout a city of 300,000 reduced the number of days that particle pollution registered over the healthy limit from 54 to 25. Increasing overall pine-age helped dial back the dust by almost fifty percent.

Trees Absorb Pollutants So You Don’t Have To
Although environmental researchers may not yet be able to provide an exact urban tree-planting protocol to help turn orange skies blue again in the case of extreme wildfire events, under relatively normal conditions, designating more green space in urban areas and planting tree species that absorb particulate pollution can help city dwellers breathe a whole lot easier.

Increasing the capacity of forest ecosystems to function as nature intended by reducing heat-trapping emissions that contribute to the drought conditions that intensify wildfires should be a top priority. As residents of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. learned last week, on a rapidly warming planet, what happens in the forest doesn’t stay in the forest—even if the forest is one thousand miles away.

ICYMI Nature News

The Tallest Sky Vacuum Ever—Ever
After a multi-year quest in search of the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest, intrepid trekkers have finally captured exclusive drone footage of the ancient giant—in a grove of giants. Follow along on their journey here.

Roadtripping Wildlife
When humans stayed in, animals stepped out. Scientists studying the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the movement patterns of wildlife have discovered that curious critters took advantage of low-traffic highways and byways to get around. Learn how they made use of the roaming room here.

Hornless Rhinos Are Homebodies
Removing rhino horns to help protect the critically endangered species from poachers is turning the animals into apprehensive homebodies. Without an intact horn to protect themselves and their territory, scientists believe the modified rhinos are playing it safe by reducing their range. No horn, no go, no way.

Meet the Carpenter Squirrels
Flying squirrels in China gnaw grooves in nuts to wedge them in trees, keeping them high and dry and ready for snacking. Crafty!

A Turtle’s Eye View of the Great Barrier Reef
If you’ve ever wondered what sea turtles get up to underwater, scientists at the World Wildlife Fund have captured some amazing turtle cam footage so you can see what the reptiles see—in the sea. Have a look!

What’s the Big, Beautiful Picture?
The winners and finalists of the 2023 Natural World Photography Contest have been announced, and you can explore the amazing images of the world’s wonders here.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
Trees for cooling, trees for purifying the air, trees for habitat, trees for income. We plant them all over the world with the help of our tree-planting partners at Tree-Nation. From April 2022 through May 2023 the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3,787 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 371,990 gallons of diesel consumed, 4,241,864 pounds of coal burned, or 460,643,616 smartphones charged.

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Lisa S. French June 17, 2023

Keep it Dark for Turtle Hatchlings

2.5-minute read

“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.”

Anonymous

Depending upon where you find yourself on our home planet, making a wish upon a star is becoming increasingly challenging. The growing number of artificial lights that illuminate our land, city, and seascapes are also brightening the night skies, dimming our views of the stars and other celestial bodies.

According to astronomers, more than two-thirds of the U.S. population and one-fifth of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The skyglow (aka, light pollution) that diminishes our ability to marvel at the beauty of bright spots in the heavens and achieve celestial wish fulfillment is also having a profound impact on the survival of some of Earth’s most charismatic creatures, including everyone’s favorite body-armored reptiles—the critically endangered sea turtles.

Because many species of animals have evolved attuned to natural cycles of darkness and light, when those cycles are disrupted, it can affect how they interact with their environment and each other. According to researchers examining how artificial light affects animal behavior, light pollution can create confusion in wildlife that can alter migration, communication, foraging, and reproduction.

Sea turtles are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of light pollution, relying on night-darkened beaches to help protect nests and keep hatchlings safe from disturbance. Turtles unable to locate a beach dark enough to obscure their nests have been known to abandon nesting attempts or discard their eggs in the sea.

Scientists monitoring hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, and green turtles have reported that hatchlings face the most significant hazards from light pollution. Aided by the cover of nighttime darkness, newly emerged baby turtles instinctually aim to make their way toward the sea. Hatchlings disoriented by artificial lighting can toddle off in the wrong direction, be overcome by exhaustion and dehydration, and sadly, never reach the water. A study of nesting sites in the Mediterranean found that only 21% of loggerhead hatchlings on well-lit beaches survived their sandy commute versus 48% of hatchlings emerging on unlit beaches.

Sea turtles aren’t the only animal species whose nighttime behaviors can become disrupted by ecological light pollution. Increasing levels of artificial light also affect birds, bats, fish, insects, and amphibians. Conservationists continue exploring innovative ways to manage light sources to keep night-dependent wildlife in the dark and help maintain life-sustaining biological rhythms.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of good for people, good for wildlife natural nighttime, we’ve pulled together some resources to help you embrace the darkness:

The Skyglow Project
The World at Night Galleries
DarkSky

ICYMI Nature News

Behold Manhattanhenge
The city that never sleeps may never turn off the lights, but that doesn’t mean New Yorkers can’t appreciate (or perhaps prefer) nature’s way of illuminating their urban jungle. If you missed the sun’s perfect alignment with Manhattan’s street grid this week, you’ll get another chance to experience the glow on July 13th.

An Octopus’s Worst Nightmare
Scientists observing bizarre behaviors in a sleeping Brazilian Reef Octopus believe the sea creatures may have vivid, potentially terrifying narrative dreams. Visions of a tentacle-chilling downgrade from octo to bi-pus?

Young Gorillas Bounce Back from Adversity
Researchers from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund studying five decades of data have found that thanks in part to the benefits of tight-knit social groups, young mountain gorillas show tremendous resilience to traumatic life events, like the loss of a parent. Power to the supportive primates.

Because All You Need Is Love
A lowland gorilla born in captivity at Smithsonian National is off to a good start in life thanks to the loving care of attentive mom, Calaya. A happy plus one for the critically endangered species.

Sailboat Sabotaging Cetaceans
Killer whales off the coasts of Spain and Portugal have been busy sinking sailboats. Scientists aren’t sure whether the unusual behavior is orca boat biting gone viral or payback for a painful encounter with a super annoying sea vessel. Either way, it seems the sailboat saboteurs are sorry, not sorry.

And that’s all folks. Have a super weekend!

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Lisa S. French June 3, 2023

Bees Buzz the Garden Electric

2-minute read

In celebration of World Bee Day, we’re going to look at one of the unexpected ways the planet’s hardest working pollinators go about the business of helping to keep us stocked in essential fruit, flowers, and veg.

Capable of visiting up to 1,000 flowers a day in their quest for pollen, these brainy insects use a variety of sensory capabilities to detect color, pattern, texture, and fragrance to scope out prime floral real estate efficiently.

According to scientists at the University of Bristol, bees have one tool in their pollen-detecting arsenal that may come as a bit of a shock—an electrostatic field. We humans can’t see it or feel it, but honeybees and bumblebees can perceive a weak electric field around flowers, helping them to determine which plants are the best bets for providing floral rewards.

As a bee travels through the air, it accumulates a positive electric charge. When the positively charged pollinator zeroes in on a negatively charged flower, an electric field is created that helps to dislodge and transfer pollen from flower to bee and from bee to flower.

How bees interpret and use information gathered from the floral e-field is species-dependent. Researchers believe that bumblebees perceive the strength of the force of the e-field through sensory hairs on their bodies that communicate by way of their central nervous systems which flowers will provide the best pollen pay-off. Honeybees detect e-field locations through their antennae and carry pollen source information back to the hive, disseminating news of first-rate foraging locations via an intricate waggle dance.

Given that 75 percent of food crops rely on pollinators, we are glad to learn that everybody’s favorite buzzers are equipped with all the necessary capabilities to ensure they can get the job done. Another amazing way that nature’s adaptations provide big benefits.

If you would like to learn how you can help keep these industrious e-field detectives in top form, check in with the Bee Conservancy.

ICYMI Nature News

Pollinating Tree Frogs
Uh oh, look out bumblebees! Scientists believe they may have discovered a new species of pollinator to add to the list of planetary helpers—a tiny, pollen and nectar-feasting Brazilian tree frog.

Touch-Tasting Octopuses
According to scientists at the University of Texas, octopuses use sensory mechanisms in their tentacles to taste potential food sources. So, no long sleeves for these multi-limbed marvels, then?

Extinct Animals Re-Imagined
To help draw attention to the extinction crisis, author Lucas Zellers and the Center for Biological Diversity have created a role-playing game manual inspired by 70 extinct animal species. The book is due later this year, but you can get a preview here.

Video Chatting Parrots
The University of Glasgow researchers have discovered that isolated pet parrots taught to video chat with distant bird pals gained similar social benefits to living in a flock. Polly want a video call?

More Fascinating Bird Behavior
If you think video-chatting parrots are awe-inspiring, check out what these clever winged creatures get up to in the wild as captured by the 2022 Audubon Photo Award winners.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
Happy one-year Tree-Nation tree-versary FWP readers! From April 2022 through April 2023, we are glad to report that the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3459 tons. That’s the equivalent of 8,000 barrels of oil consumed, 389,204 gallons of gasoline consumed, or 3,874,454 pounds of coal burned.

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Lisa S. French May 19, 2023

Re-Treeing: This is How We Do It

2.5-minute read

It’s the little things citizens do.
That’s what will
make the difference.
My little thing is planting trees.

Wangari Maathai

If you’re a regular reader, you know we’re big on trees—planting them, protecting them, and writing about them. In honor of Earth Month, we’d like to share a bit about how our planting partners at Tree-Nation do that planet-preserving thing they do—helping tackle the urgent mission of restoring the world’s forests.

Capturing carbon, protecting biodiversity, and supporting the livelihoods of local communities through reforestation are all at the top of the planetary to-do list. While tree planting seems simple enough—just dig and drop—the most successful reforestation strategies combine scientific and indigenous knowledge to create customized planting techniques that result in the greatest all-around benefits for people, wildlife, and the planet. To overcome the increasing global environmental challenges that impact survival rates, the right trees must be planted in the right place in the right way.

So how does Tree-Nation ensure that newly planted seeds and seedlings fulfill their tree-life destiny to combat climate change, purify the air and water, and provide revenue, food, fodder, and medicine for local populations and habitats for millions of species? They think globally and plant locally, using a variety of methods that align with the Ten Golden Rules of Reforestation, guidelines developed by an expert team of researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens to help avoid the pitfalls of large-scale tree-planting initiatives.

Wherever they plant in the world, the number one objective of every project that Tree-Nation supports is to encourage a diverse mix of native tree species that minimize harm and maximize long-term benefits.

From simple methods that simulate animal dispersal to highly engineered solutions like drones, for all the forestry nerds out there, this is how Tree-Nation digs, drops, and re-trees to meet their commitment of a trillion trees planted by 2050:

Direct Sowing
Planting individual seeds directly into the soil where the trees are to be established.
Benefits: Trees grow strong and adapt well to their environment.

Muvuca Strategy
Spreading seeds of hundreds of varieties of native species over every square meter of land. You can learn how this technique is being used to save forests in Brazil here.
Benefits: Creates natural spread of vegetation and dense forests.

Seed Bombs
One or multiple seeds are wrapped in clay and compost, protecting the seed from harsh weather and animals.
Benefits: Easy to manipulate and quick to plant.

Aerial Seeding
Sowing seeds by dropping them from a drone, plane, or helicopter to disperse seeds into difficult-to-reach locations.
Benefits: Offers a cheap automated method to plant at a large scale.

Nursery Seedling Transplant
The most widespread technique in tree planting, seedlings spend 3-6 months in nurseries before being transplanted, usually during the rainy season.
Benefits: Offers great control over quantities and species planted and survival rate.

Assisted Natural Regeneration
Protecting and preserving natural tree seedlings in forested areas by employing different techniques to remove or reduce barriers.
Benefits: A natural approach that is inexpensive and well-suited to existing forested areas.

If you’d like to learn how effective restoration organizations like Tree-Nation determine which trees should be planted where check out the GlobalTreeSearch for a list of every known tree species on Earth by country.

A final thought on reforestation—as enthusiastic as Favorite World Press is about tree planting, and that would be a 10 out of 10, we want to emphasize that to maintain the healthy functioning of our planet protecting existing old-growth forests like Alaska’s Tongass is essential.

And a gentle reminder—we plant one tree for every print or e-book sold. If you’d like to make tree-planting your little thing, read with us!

ICYMI Nature News

Crying Plants
According to new research published in Cell, thirsty plants make ultra-sonic noise that can be heard by some animals. This is what it sounds like when plants cry.

Introverted Tigers
Do you think all Siberian tigers have big cat energy? Scientists have identified two distinct personality types in the stripey felines that map to the traits of introversion and extroversion in humans. Either way, we think they’re grrrrrreat!

Glow-In-the-Dark Garden Mice
Platypus do it, some squirrels and hares do it, and according to Estonian researchers, garden dormice do it. What’s that? They glow under UV light. Rodential party animals.

Self-Aware Bees
Pollination ecologist Stephen Buchmann has published new research that indicates bees are sentient and may have a primitive form of consciousness. We knew it all along.

DIY Elephants
According to a new study, elephants may be one of the few species on Earth to have domesticated themselves. If you want something done right do it your ele-self.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
From April 2022 through March 2023, the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3157 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 8,093,790 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, 136,664 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled, or 3,536,616 pounds of coal burned.

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Lisa S. French April 10, 2023

Fish Feel Fear and Pass it On

2-minute read

Our innate capacity to feel what others feel is one of the traits that make humans human, and according to new research, it’s also what makes zebrafish—zebrafish. If the idea that our gilled friends have feelings sounds, well, fishy, you may be interested to learn that not only do some fishes have feelings, but it also seems they have feelings about other fishes’ feelings—at least when it comes to fear.

The spontaneous spread of emotions, known as social contagion, is regarded as one of the most ancient forms of empathy and has been widely recognized in humans as well as highly social mammals, including elephants, dolphins, and primates. But big-brained mammals aren’t alone in their ability to perceive and mirror the emotional states of their own kind—it’s an ability they seem to share with some species of fish.

Scientists studying the origins of how emotional states spread through social groups of animals believe that oxytocin, the hormone that regulates empathetic behaviors like trust, attachment, and bonding in mammals, enables zebrafish to sense and respond to fear in their finned comrades.

Observing two fish, one relaxed and swimming normally and one showing signs of fear, the zebrafish in the study mimicked the movements of the frightened fish and then approached and interacted with the distressed swimmer—what scientists believe could be perceived as an empathetic response. Zebrafish that lacked oxytocin were indifferent to the distress of the frightened fish and preferred the company of the relaxed fish. Some might call the cold-blooded creatures’ behavior—self-fish.

Although we may not yet know for certain if fish experience other emotions, we can imagine that a fish paralyzed by fear might feel comforted by the attentions of compassionate co-swimmers.

ICYMI Nature News

How Whale Sharks See in the Dark
Scientists studying how whale sharks can see in the darkness of the deep sea have come up with an answer—temperature-sensitive retinas. Handy! Read all about it here.

Strutting Spiders Have All the Moves
According to new research, male wolf spiders use fancy footwork and fluffy leggings to catch the eye (eyes) of lady spiders. See how they strut.

Monarchs in Serious Distress
Sad news for monarch butterflies and their habitats this week. Populations overwintering in Mexico have dropped by 22% since last year due to deforestation and climate change. Time for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Game On for the Planet
If you’re feeling the urge to do a little planet tending and don’t have an actual patch nearby, you can get some practice in virtual ecosystem restoration with the brand-new conservation game TerraNil. Eight percent of profits will be donated to the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Check it out!

Run For the Wild Ones
If you’re local to NYC, on April 29, you can make tracks for sloths and other endangered species by participating in the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Run for the Wild. Register here.

200? 200!
A little bird told us this is Wild & Wondrous’ 200th blog. Oh. Okay then! 🥳

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Lisa S. French March 29, 2023

The Whisker Vision of Seals

2-minute read

Of all the creatures under the sea, when it comes to precision prey tracking, seals (aka pinnipeds) have a distinct advantage—whisker vision. Although the mustachioed marine mammals can recognize a tasty fish when they see one, thanks to their super-sensitive whiskers, seals don’t need to see a fish to catch a fish.

Like all living beings, seals have evolved with the exact creature features and adaptations they need to thrive in their particular place on the planet. Scientists studying how seals can successfully hunt in low, or no, visibility conditions have concluded that the animals are ideally equipped to go with the flow.

Through finely tuned flow sensors in their whiskers, seals can detect the motion trail of prey from as far away as 600 feet. The whisker sensors also relay the size and direction of potential meals, indicating whether the calorie reward would be worth the energy required for a hot pursuit.

And what makes seal whiskers so exquisitely sensitive to disturbances in the water that they can even detect the exhalations of fish at the bottom of the sea? Following two decades of research, scientists have concluded that the wavy shape of a seal’s whiskers, unique in the animal kingdom, enables the specialized hunters to lock on to the frequency of preferred prey while tuning out noise from their own movement.

Besides being all-important for meal acquisition, seals’ extraordinary sensory perception and unusually shaped whiskers are now informing all manner of research into the development of biomimetic robots for underwater exploration. And you thought the innovation-inspiring marine mammals were just adorable, bristle-faced fish-eaters.

ICYMI Nature News

Green Is Good
In a much-needed boost to North Atlantic marine life, including porpoises, skates, and stingrays, 4300 miles of water along the Greater Skellig Coast have been recognized as Ireland’s first Mission Blue Hope Spot. Erin go bragh!

Free Butterfly Plants
If you participate in an urban, community, or school garden in the Northeastern U.S., the Xerces Society is now offering free native plants for your patch to help provide sustenance to endangered migrating monarchs. Find out if you qualify here.

NYC Sky Garden Opening
It’s officially spring, and NYC’s delightful, de-lovely, elevated gardens will soon burst into bloom. Starting April 1, you can tiptoe through the High Line tulips until 10 pm.

Pick Up the Pieces
From now through Earth Day, you can take part in the Great Global Cleanup to help rid our beautiful home planet of plastic pollution. Find a location near you in need of some TLC (tender loving cleanup).

Meditate on the Feather Star
If you’re suffering from mid-week Jell-O brain or just enjoy watching magical sea creatures do magical sea creature things, we highly recommend a few moments of peaceful meditation on the feather star’s multi-limbed locomotion. And go with the flow.

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Lisa S. French March 21, 2023

Do Sleeping Bears Dream of Missions to Mars?

2-minute read

What can we learn from bears about space travel?

Although the earthbound mammals have never achieved liftoff, according to research from the University of Minnesota, studying black and brown bears’ ability to bounce right back to roaming after a long winter’s nap may help scientists to develop strategies that would enable humans to overcome the negative physiological impacts of months-long interplanetary flight.

Every fall, as temperatures begin to drop, the power sleepers pack on the pounds (see Fat Bear week) in preparation for winter hibernation, an extreme state of starvation and dehydration. In the spring, after a half-year of physical inactivity and living off fat reserves, the animals can return to normal bear business within minutes of emerging from their dens, major organs intact and with little or no bone or muscle loss.

Amazingly, after consecutive months of immobility, bears lose only 23 percent of their strength, while humans would lose 90 percent over the same period. So how do they survive the big sleep without any debilitating bodily impacts? According to scientists, the burly omnivores have evolved with adaptations that significantly reduce their body temperature and heart rate to conserve energy. During hibernation, a bear’s temperature can drop by 8 -12 degrees and its heart rate to an average of just 4.3 beats per minute with minimal ill effect.

And what does that mean for the future of manned missions to Mars? Researchers are investigating whether inducing a bear-like state of hibernation would enable humans to endure the long haul of prolonged space travel—another beary good example of how we look to nature to inspire innovation.

ICYMI Nature News

First Bear Out of the Den
The first bear to emerge from winter slumber at Yellowstone has been spotted by a park biologist. It seems dreams of space have taken a backseat to securing a prime spot at the all-you-can-eat post-hibernation buffet.

The Loudest Animal on the Planet
Danish scientists have discovered how whales produce the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom—clicking nose lips. Listen to the nasal chatter here.

Pollinating Dance Instructors
We’ve written previously about how bees communicate food locations through an intricate waggle dance. Now researchers have discovered that newbies learn their honey-making moves from mentors. Swing your pollinating partner!

Fairy Lantern Flower Back from the Dead
Believed to be extinct for the past 30 years, the delicate fairy lantern flower has been rediscovered in Japan. You can see what the photosynthesis-free flower looks like here. Flower? Mushroom? Mushroom-flower?

Good News for the Earth’s Oceans
It took a long time, but the United Nations has announced the passage of a High Seas Treaty to protect marine biodiversity and 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. Not a moment too soon!

2023 National Wildlife Photo Contest
If you’re a nature-loving photographer anywhere in the world and over the age of 13, you can share your beautiful views to help protect nature in the National Wildlife Federation annual photo contest. Find out how to participate here. Go wild, happy snappers!

Btw, March 14th (3.14) is Pi Day
You can read how the number pi (π) manifests in nature here. And whether you’re into numbers or sweets and savories, you can find some delicious ways to celebrate right here! Strawberry slab, anyone?

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Lisa S. French March 13, 2023

Chimps are no Chumps

2-minute read

Whether or not we get treated fairly is one of the metrics that humans use to assess the quality and potential longevity of our relationships. Ideally, we seek to collaborate with partners in all realms of our existence who acknowledge our contributions and expectations and are as attentive to our treatment as they are to their own.

Unremedied inequity can lead to a negative interpretation of events, a breakdown in communication, and an unwillingness to cooperate on future endeavors. According to a series of landmark studies, we share our desire for fair treatment and rejection of injustice with some savvy members of the animal kingdom—particularly when it comes to equal pay for equal work.

Do I Look Like I Just Fell Out of a Tree?
Behavioral researchers from Emory University examining non-human primates’ response to equal versus unequal rewards for completing a task revealed that the perceptive animals did not respond well to being taken advantage of.

When chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys and their task partners both received cucumber slices for their efforts, they were equally satisfied with the outcome. Given a choice, however, the animals prefer to be paid in grapes. If only one partner received grapes, the unfair compensation resulted in outright primate protest from the other, and refusal to either continue the task or to accept the inferior reward. In some cases, the work stoppage and reward rejection were accompanied by water spitting and cage-rattling to drive the dissatisfaction home.

Interestingly, to preserve a valued long-term relationship, some chimps would react to the unfair treatment of their partners by refusing the better reward. Researchers believe that the short-term sacrifice was not necessarily driven by a desire to do the right thing but to increase the odds of future cooperation by maintaining a basic sense of fairness. Similar to the realm of human relations, more equitable individual outcomes for the chimps had a greater likelihood of leading to more stable and harmonious interactions in their communities—wise apes.

ICYMI Nature News

A Wondrous Whale Event
The lucky passengers of a National Geographic Antarctic cruise experienced an extraordinary event in January, the gathering of 1,000 fin whales. You can check out the largest pod seen in over a century here.

Must-See Eagle TV
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Big Bear bald eagle nest cam, you’re in for a treat. You can keep 24-7 tabs on how expecting raptors Jackie and Shadow are coping with California’s wintry weather while waiting for the arrival of their eaglets. Visit the nest!

Get Ready to Wear It Wild
If you’ve been looking for a legit reason to wear your zebra-striped jumpsuit or cheetah-patterned chinos to work or school, you are in luck. You can sign up today for the World Wildlife Fund Wear it Wild challenge and commit to one day of wearing a creature costume of your choice to fundraise to help protect nature. Whether you’re inclined to present as a tiger, tapir, or tree toad, you can find out how to participate here.

And Finally, Snow in NYC
Winter without snow is like cake without frosting. It took a long time, but after almost four worrisome months trending towards tropical, snow has finally fallen in NYC. Not big news, perhaps, nor a big pile-up, but we’re excited about it nonetheless. And more, please!

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Lisa S. French February 28, 2023

Spots, Stripes, and Solids: Wild Cat Camouflage

1.5-minute read

If you were a wild feline trying to creep through the canopy of a rainforest undetected or stalk the tall grasses of a savanna in stealth mode, which pattern and color would you choose for your pelt? Striped, spotted, or solid? Brown, beige, grey, or maybe green? Green might seem like a natural choice, but as you’ve probably noticed, mammal fur doesn’t come in green (and here’s why).

Of course, lions, tigers, and leopards don’t pick their own pelt patterns. Through the process of evolution, nature provides each of the 40 wild cat species with coloring that ensures they don’t stand out in a crowd. According to a University of Bristol study, the differences in patterning relate to how, when, and where the animals hunt. Cats, big and small, are creepers and leapers. Their primary meal acquisition strategy is to stalk their prey until they are close enough to pounce. Blending in with background colors, shapes, and textures makes keeping a low profile a whole lot easier.

Researchers believe that the more complex the animal’s surroundings, the more intricate the pelt pattern. Cats like the fancy-furred clouded leopard that live in dense tropical forests have evolved with dark-spotted, patchy pelts that blend in with shifting patterns of shadow and light compared to solid-colored cats like lions that spend their days prowling wide open, relatively tree-less grassland environments.

It seems that when it comes to surviving in the wild, there’s no such thing as too matchy-matchy for felines—maybe that’s why leopards never change their spots.

ICYMI Nature News

Cancer Detecting Lab Ants
French scientists have trained ants to detect cancer cells through tiny supersensitive receptors in their antennae. This is how they do it.

Bringing Back the Kelp Keepers
The Center for Biological Diversity is on a mission to protect and restore Pacific Coast kelp forests by reintroducing ecosystem engineering otters to Oregon and Northern California. What an otterly good idea!

Bald Eagles in Brooklyn?
For the first time in over 100 years, a pair of bald eagles are trying to build a nest in the Jamaica Bay wetlands. Egg-citing! You can learn more about the new arrivals and NYC’s total raptor mania from the good people helping to restore urban bird habitat right here.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
New Year. More trees. We’re rolling on with Tree-Nation in 2023, planting more community-supporting, habitat-restoring, planet-cooling trees in places where they provide the most benefit. The trees we planted from April 2022 through January 2023 capture carbon equivalent to 6,166,444 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, 2,748,608 pounds of coal burned, or 302,191,960 smartphones charged. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for your support!

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Lisa S. French February 10, 2023

Brainy Jays Cater to their Best Birds

1.5-minute read

How much do you imagine birds know about what their feathered friends might be thinking? Are they capable of putting themselves in another bird’s shoes—if birds wore shoes—or do they simply rely on instinct to navigate intra-avian interactions?

The ability to comprehend that another’s thoughts and desires may differ from our own was long believed to be a uniquely human cognitive trait. Recent research has revealed that predicting and interpreting the beliefs and intentions of others is a skill that we share with some members of the crow family. Despite having a distinctly different brain structure, these brainy birds are capable of perspective-taking, the complex thinking and behavioral flexibility that enables them to ignore their own preferences and predict and respond to the preferences of their mates.

A University of Cambridge study revealed that the courting male Eurasian jay could perceive that the way to his best bird’s heart was through her stomach. Given a choice between two types of favorite worms to feed his mate, and regardless of which wriggly delicacy he wanted, the insightful jay chose to feed her the type of worm she had not already eaten. Because both humans and animals would prefer not to eat the same food for every meal, researchers concluded that the male jays paid attention to what their mates ate and predicted that offering her food she had not grown tired of would be more likely to please her. It seems, for Eurasian jays, to love a bird is to cater to her worm wishes—food for thought.

ICYMI Nature News

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To reach their goal of 25,000 new pollinator gardens across the U.S. in 2023, Save our Monarchs is inviting every school, scout troop, and 4-H club across the U.S. to pitch in and plant to help save the endangered butterflies. Find out how to get your free seeds here.

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Lisa S. French January 27, 2023