Apesongs Primatologist Dian Fossey famously studied vocalizations in gorillas. For my money, she produced the greatest piece of evidence that these great apes and humans descended from a shared ancestor at some point in the distant past: the most common form of communication in gorillas is belching. (credit the notion to Steve Mirsky, cited in
The Army Ant Death Spiral Renowned ecologist and conservationist William Beebe’s 1921 tome, Edge of the Jungle, chronicled an incredible event in the teeming forests of Kartabo in Guyana. In the recorded history of entomology, no human had witnessed anything like it. He wrote: Yet, whatever the simile, the net of unconscious precedent is
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Pingu A couple of months ago, we followed the path of an adventurous walrus named Wally. He left his home in the Arctic Circle and took a circuitous tour of western Europe. Today’s topic switches hemispheres but maintains the wandering nature. Unfortunately, Pingu the Penguin does not seem to be joyriding like Wally, but the
Numbats I recently encountered a trivial question, which asked the reader to identify a specific Australian animal. One of the answers was “numbat.” Thinking that seemed a word created to sound like another, real creature from Australia, I discarded it. I confidently clicked “wombat” and was rewarded with a big, fat, red X. Turns out
Mr. Goxx The combination of the relatively recent advent of fee-free stock trading and a global pandemic led to record numbers of entities trying their hands at playing the market. This uptick was not limited to traditional stocks. Cryptocurrencies are de riguer, as well. Bitcoin is the most famous decentralized currency, but dozens or hundreds of others
Wally the Wandering Walrus The walrus is one of the most recognizable animals on the planet. The giant, tusked creature looks like no other, which makes sense when one realizes they are the only extant species in their family, Odobenidae. Adult males can weigh nearly two tons. They feature twisty tusks and winsome whiskers. When you
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Maine by Deborah Stout As Kyle has mentioned in a few of his articles, we are new parents! Since he has been working hard on keeping the newsletter going while also learning to be (a great) dad, I thought I would gift him a break by writing a guest article. I chose the topic to
Equine on I-Six-Nine What’s in a name? that which we call Bold and BossyBy any other name would bolt as sweetly. — Bill Shakespeare, Boldeo and Bossiet We attempt to imbue much with the names we give our offspring and our critter companions. Horse trainers have a long history of apt, clever,
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The Social Giraffe Network Apparently, for many moons, in the scientific realm, zoologists have considered giraffes to be solitary and aloof. A 1991 publication on the behavior of African mammals described giraffes as “forming no lasting bonds with its fellows and associating in the most casual way.” Unlike elephants and apes, which display broad social constructs,
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You Shall Pass Most of us are well familiar with overpasses, those three-dimensional intersections of highways and byways. These structures allow roads to cross safely without those pesky traffic lights, stop signs, or roundabouts. An overpass on the New York Thruway – image by Jojalozzo Utilizing vertical space for road travel is good for both