Wild Things
The weird and wonderful in the natural world
- Animals
The daemon cat that never was
Buried in a volume published in 1904 is a description of a new species of cat found in Transcaucasia: Felis daemon, the Black Wild Cat.
- Animals
Reindeer eyes change color in winter darkness
One part of an Arctic reindeer’s eyes changes color in winter and increases the sensitivity of the animal’s vision.
- Animals
The bromance of the fossas
Male fossas, mammal carnivores native to Madagascar, hang out with other males to boost their hunting and mating success.
- Animals
Maybe Britain shouldn’t kill its badgers
A study on badger social networks shows that isolated badgers are the ones that most often carry TB and cause infections among — but not within — groups.
- Paleontology
An ammonite adventure on the Jurassic Coast
This region is special because fossils are easy to find. They wash out of the cliffs and onto the beach where they are free for anyone to collect, as long as you follow the rules.
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- Animals
The giraffes that sailed to medieval China
Chinese exploration of the world is often left out of Western textbooks (at least it was left out of mine), but for a brief period, from 1405 to 1433, the Chinese under Ming emperor Yongle sent out numerous trade missions that reached as far as present-day Kenya. During the fourth expedition, which left China in 1413, part of the fleet led by commander Zheng He sailed to Bengal in India, where in 1414 they met envoys from the African coastal state of Malindi (now part of Kenya). The men from Malindi had brought with them as tribute giraffes, and they gave one of those giraffes to the Chinese, who took it home.
