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Why You Should Choose Your Friends Wisely: Collective Animal Behavior

Humans are not the only animals that are able to organize themselves into coordinated groups or societies. Some animals exhibit incredible feats of coordination, but unlike us, they do so without a leader or a global view of the outcome, like a set of blue-prints. We may all be familiar with the hypnotic movement of…

Fun Fact Friday! Venomous Lizards

There are two species of lizard with specialized venom in North America: the Mexican beaded lizard and the Gila monster. These lethal lizards contain venom in their saliva, and administer it into their prey when chewing.

Field Photo: Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

Photo Credit: Tez Stair

Raging Battles on Beaches Near You

Up and down the west coast of the US and Mexico, thousands of Elephant Seals are gathering for the biggest event of the year…

Fun Fact Friday: Unihemispheric Sleep

Some species of cetaceans (whales and dolphins), like the boto, sleep with only half their brain at a time! This adaptation, called unihemispheric sleep, allows them to surface in order to breathe. For more on other animals that also practice unihemispheric sleep and the reasons why, take a gander at this article.

Crows and Aesop’s Fable: More fact than fiction?

Dr. John Marzluff caught and harassed some local American crows while wearing a caveman mask. He found that…

Creature Feature: Whiptail Lizards

When most people hear “asexual reproduction” (offspring that come from a single parent) they think of single cells splitting in half, or maybe clonal plants. But did you know there are asexual lizards? Whiptail lizards (genus Aspidoscelis, formally Cnemidophorus) are common in the Southwestern US and Mexico and about one third of the 50-ish species are all female.