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- TIL the same gene makes blotched tabby cats and king cheetahsPosted 1 month 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 1 month 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 1 month 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 1 month 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 1 month 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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