Wild winters: How animals survive the cold
Winters are a trying time for wildlife. With freezing temperatures, scarce food sources and difficulty in camouflaging, it isn’t easy to get by. Different animals use different strategies to survive and make it through these harsh conditions. Here are a few tricks that help some creatures weather even the coldest of winters. Moving on: Migration Without … Continued
This incredible city is redefining how industry and animals interact
Those who were born in Linz half a century ago may remember a very different city to what visitors see today. Nestled on the banks of the River Danube, this capital of Upper Austria has been the site of a massive steel industry and chemical plants since the Second World War, making it one of the country’s most … Continued
The strange tale of two mutations that nearly destroyed—then saved—a tribe of organ-eating cannibals
As anyone who’s seen a recent superhero film can tell you, mutation is an incredible thing. In the real world, mutations are just as amazing—providing the primary source of genetic variation and diversity in populations of living things. This diversity supplies the raw material for the process of evolution, which enables species to adapt to … Continued
10 most unusual defence mechanisms found in Nature
Just as deadly predators have evolved ingenious ways to lure and catch their prey, so too have animals developed surprising and unexpected methods of escape. From fish that fly and lizards that squirt blood from their eyes, to insects that wear dead ants as a disguise. Welcome to the weird world of unusual defense mechanisms. … Continued
Eat your greens! The secrets to how herbivores grow so large
The largest land animal that ever lived was a vegetarian. When a local farmer stumbled upon a thighbone in Patagonia, he initially assumed it was a gigantic segment of petrified wood. But as paleontologists from around the world began to excavate, they found the fossilised remains of perhaps the largest animal species ever to walk … Continued