Whale sharks use a wider range of feeding strategies and depths than surface observations previously revealed. A whale shark can vanish beneath the surface in seconds, leaving researchers with little idea of what the world’s largest fish does once it disappears from view. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are among the ocean’s most recognizable animals, inspiring [...]
There have been numerous accounts in recent years of orcas ramming boats—and sometimes sinking them. Scientists believe this may be a form of culturally learned behavior passed down through generations. Now we have fresh examples: orcas in the Gulf of California were filmed teaming up to ram sunfish with so much force that the carcasses exploded into small fragments. While orcas have been known to use force to remove flesh from prey, this is something different, according to a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ethology.
“We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun," said co-author Kathryn Ayres of Beneath The Waves, a nonprofit organization promoting ocean health. "Orcas are known for playing with their food.”
Orcas engage in cooperative hunting strategies that can involve striking or killing animals—sometimes eating their prey, sometimes not—so the behavior could be described as social interaction, play, or practice as a mode of social learning. Orcas have been observed ramming whale sharks as another orca held the prey steady. Other cooperative strategies include herding mobile rays, blocking an escape path while hunting white sharks, and deliberately producing waves to bump penguins off ice floes.
© Robert Pittman, NOAA/Public domain
A dog’s nose is a gateway to a richer world, and scent-filled walks, games, and food hunts can transform boredom and stress into excitement, focus, and discovery. While we are captivated by a vivid sunset and breathtaking views, dogs have their noses to the ground, reading the odor stories left behind by other dogs and [...]
From ants to apes, social species scout, bond, raid and retreat before conflict.
Male dragonflies are known to engage in mid-air "dogfights" to defend their breeding territory, using different maneuvers than those they employ when hunting prey. A new paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface concluded that relatively simple rules drive that behavior, namely that male dragonflies are trying to maintain a tactical position. This mirrors the tactics of human fighter pilots. The research could lead to the development of smarter drones capable of navigating with simple, vision-based guidance rather than complex computation.
Classic pursuits involving prey or mating rituals are asymmetric: there is a chaser and an evader, with each role requiring different maneuvers. In the case of male-on-male interactions, however, it is more of a mutual pursuit, per the authors, who thought that studying flight trajectories of insects or raptors could yield useful insights into the guidance laws that underlie the behavior. They chose the Trithemis Aurora species of dragonfly for study because the males are "fiercely territorial," and there are usually multiple males around a given pond, intent on defending their chosen perches. The dragonflies are also crimson-colored, making them easier to track.
Much of the prior research on dragonfly interactions relied on visual observations or single-camera recordings. For this study, the authors set up a portable stereovideographic rig with two shutter-synchronized cameras to record dragonfly interactions in both color and monochrome, and then reconstructed 102 paired male-on-male flight trajectories to capture the 3D kinematics. They also reconstructed nine trajectories for dragonflies intercepting prey for comparative purposes. This enabled the authors to develop a model for the rules governing the flight behavior.
© Samuel Fabian et al., 2026
A yet unnamed Australian spider weaponizes silk to hunt a single ant species.
These fathers brood, carry, feed and defend their young at astonishing cost.
A new evolutionary analysis suggests the behavior appears across many bird groups
Male bowerbirds are notorious for their complex mating rituals. They build intricate tunnels out of twigs—the bowers from which they get their name—and then decorate them with random colorful items gleaned from the environment. When a female of the species shows up to check out a male's fancy digs, the male tosses his shiniest objects in her direction and shows off his plumage in hopes of impressing her.
According to a new paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science by University of Exeter scientists, urbanization and the associated growing availability of brightly colored human-made items have had a significant impact on courtship display behavior in Australian male bowerbirds. There are marked differences in the choice of decorations for bowerbirds in urban versus rural environments. This might be because urban birds simply have greater access to the items than their rural counterparts, since birds in both environments show a marked preference for human items.
The University of Exeter researchers monitored the bowers of 61 male great bowerbirds in two sites in Australia's northern Queensland—the rural Dreghorn Cattle Station and the urban Townsville City—during the prime breeding season (September–December 2023). Then they photographed the bower decorations in situ from above in both visible and UV light (bowerbirds can see in the UV range), using an umbrella to create diffuse lighting.
© Caitlin Evans
A study suggests pigeons navigate using iron-rich immune cells in their livers that can respond to Earth’s magnetic field. The findings may solve a decades-old mystery about bird navigation and reveal a surprising new sensory role for the immune system. Pigeons are famous for their ability to travel long distances and still find their way [...]
The loss of a queen triggers intense battles for power among female wasps, disrupting the colony’s social structure. Surprisingly, other wasps avoid the fighting and keep the colony functioning by taking care of its most important daily tasks. What happens when a queen suddenly disappears from a wasp colony? According to new research led by [...]
Artificial streetlights can lure isopods into massive circular processions that may leave them vulnerable to predators. Researchers have made a world-first observation of thousands of Israeli isopods leaving their normally solitary shelters and moving together in huge synchronized “death spirals” caused by artificial streetlights. By testing different light arrangements, the team found that vertical beams [...]
Scientists have long known that migrating birds and homing pigeons navigate in part by sensing the Earth's magnetic fields, especially at night or in overcast conditions when visual landmarks or sunshine are in short supply. But exactly where this magneto-sensing occurs in the body—and the mechanism that enables it—remains a matter of intense debate. A new paper published in the journal Science suggests that homing pigeons have iron-rich immune cells in their livers that help them detect magnetic fields and transmit that information to the brain.
There are three primary hypotheses for how birds might sense Earth's geomagnetic field. One is a compass-like mechanism, whereby the Earth exerts a pull on magnetic particles in a bird's upper beak that relays directional information via a large nerve in the cranium. A second is that it happens biologically via cellular ion channels sensitive to voltage, enabling birds to sense changes in the magnetic field. And a third suggests that physical effects on retinal pigments enable birds to detect photons and send signals to the brain, although this mechanism is really only viable in the light.
None fully explain how animals can sense magnetic fields. However, “We had some clues that the liver and spleen have magnetic properties, because they break down red blood cells and so store much iron in the body,” said co-author Clivia Lisowski of the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn. This refers to a 2015 paper suggesting that red pulp macrophages in the spleens of mice and humans are intrinsically superparamagnetic and hence more sensitive to magnetic fields. But it wasn't clear if those properties were involved in any kind of magnetoreception.
© Christian Ziegler/ Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
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