The Sharks That Hunt in Packs
At the southern end of Fakarava Atoll, a reserve in French Polynesia, is a narrow channel connecting the lagoon to the ocean. It is the hunting grounds of up to 900 reef sharks, including grey reef, whitetip reef, silvertip, and blacktip reef sharks.
Researchers studying this nearly pristine ecosystem recently documented a new phenomenon during their nighttime dives: The sharks hunt in packs.
Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: The Sharks That Hunt in Packs.
Spiders and Centipedes Devour Frogs, Snakes -- and an Opossum
Spidersand centipedes and water bugs, oh my! It turns out these creepy crawlies can bepredators just as fierce as lions and tigers. A team of biologists has documented 15 predator-prey interactions where the invertebrates are hunters and the vertebrates prey. Their article includes photo and video evidence of invertebrate predators – mostly large spiders as well as some centipedes and a giant water bug – killing and eating vertebrates such as frogs, tadpoles, lizards, snakes, and even a small opossum.Watch a video of the opossum incident, see more photos, and read my story at National Geographic: First-Ever Video Shows Tarantula Eating Opossum
