Jake Buehler

Jake Buehler is a freelance science writer, covering natural history, wildlife conservation and Earth's splendid biodiversity, from salamanders to sequoias. He has a master's degree in zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

All Stories by Jake Buehler

  1. Animals

    These beetles walk on water, upside down, underneath the surface

    Many insects can skate atop the water’s surface thanks to water tension, but one beetle can apparently tread along the underside of this boundary.

  2. Animals

    ‘Fathom’ seeks to unravel humpback whales’ soulful songs

    The film ‘Fathom’ on Apple TV+ follows the quest of researchers on the ocean’s surface to decipher the eerie symphony of humpback whale calls below.

  3. Plants

    These ferns may be the first plants known to share work like ants

    Staghorn ferns grow in massive colonies where individual plants contribute different jobs. This may make them “eusocial,” like ants or termites.

  4. Animals

    Urchin mobs team up to butcher sea stars that prey on them

    Urchins are important herbivores in nearshore ecosystems, but are not strict vegetarians, with hunger that extends even to munching predatory nemeses.

  5. Animals

    This praying mantis inflates a strange pheromone gland to lure mates

    Researchers stumbled across a first among mantises: an inflatable organ that spreads pheromones, helping mates find each other in the dark rainforest.

  6. Life

    Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements

    A lion yawn is contagious, and when lions start yawning together, they start moving together. Synchronization may be key for group hunters like lions.

  7. Life

    Flamboyant fishes evolved an explosion of color as seas rose and fell

    Fluctuations in sea level due to cycling ice ages may have powered an engine in tropical seas that pumped out gaudy fish species.

  8. Animals

    Bee larvae drum with their butts, which may confuse predatory wasps

    Dual percussion instruments — one on the head, the other on the rear — give mason bee larvae a peculiar musical gift that may be a tool for survival.

  9. Animals

    A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock

    The Australian birds, already famous for their impressive song-copying skills, appear to be replicating the sounds of a “mobbing flock” of birds.

  10. Animals

    A mountain lizard in Peru broke the reptilian altitude record

    Liolaemus tacnae was photographed 5,400 meters above sea level in the Andes, breaking the highest elevation record for a reptile by about 100 meters.

  11. Life

    A reeking, parasitic plant lost its body and much of its genetic blueprint

    The Sapria himalayana flower's extreme parasitic lifestyle inside the body of its host has left a bizarre imprint on its genome.

  12. Paleontology

    This ancient sea reptile had a slicing bite like no other

    Right up until 66 million years ago, the sea was a teeming evolutionary laboratory with a small, agile, razor-toothed mosasaur patrolling the waters.