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- TIL the same gene makes blotched tabby cats and king cheetahsPosted 20 hours ago by
Changes in a gene called Taqpep turn a mackerel tabby's thin stripes into swirled blotches. In cheetahs, the same change turns spots into the stripes of the rare "king cheetah".
Source: Kaelin et al., Specifying and Sustaining Pigmentation Patterns in Domestic and Wild Cats, Science (2012). doi.org/10.1126/science.1220893
Image: Olga...
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Image: Olga Ernst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons - TIL wild crows remember a threatening human face for years, and teach other crows to scold itPosted 20 hours ago by
Researchers trapped crows while wearing a particular mask. Years later, crows that were never trapped still mobbed anyone wearing that mask.
Source: Marzluff et al., Lasting recognition of threatening people by wild American crows, Animal Behaviour (2010). doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.12.022
Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons - TIL Arctic terns fly about 70,900 km a yearPosted 20 hours ago by
Tracking showed a zig-zag route between Greenland and Antarctica each year. Over a roughly 30-year life, that's about three return trips to the Moon.
Source: Egevang et al., Tracking of Arctic terns Sterna paradisaea reveals longest animal migration, PNAS (2010). doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0909493107
Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0,...
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Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons - TIL Greenland sharks can live at least 272 years, possibly about 400Posted 20 hours ago by
Researchers dated the proteins in their eye lenses, which form before birth and never change. The sharks aren't mature until they're about 150.
Source: Nielsen et al., Eye lens radiocarbon reveals centuries of longevity in the Greenland shark, Science (2016). doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf1703
Image: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, public domain, via ...
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Image: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons - TIL wombats poop cubes, about 80–100 a nightPosted 20 hours ago by
Their intestines have stiffer and softer bands that shape the corners as the feces dry. They stack them on rocks and logs to mark territory.
Source: Yang et al., Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces, Soft Matter (2021). doi.org/10.1039/D0SM01230K
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