Ant First Responders
Did you know that some ants work as first responders? It's their job to rescue trapped colony mates. New research looks at the heritability of this specialization and shows that ‘once a rescuer, always a rescuer.’
Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Ant Colonies Have Specialized First Responders.
Cross-Modal Object Recognition in Bumble Bees
The ability to experience an object in one sensory modality and later recognize it in another is called cross-modal object recognition. It’s actually a highly complex cognitive capacity thought to be limited to vertebrates. Now, a group of researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Macquarie University in Australia show that bumble bees are capable of performing this task, raising questions of bees’ mental imagery and awareness.
Read my latest post at my Animal Minds blog: Bumble Bees Can Recognize Objects Across Senses.
Ants Discriminate Snake Friends and Foes
In Madagascar, there is an ant with two very different relationships to two kinds of snake. These ants open their nests up to one of the snakes, which may help protect them from the other.
Read my latest Animal Minds post for the whole story: Ants Discriminate Snake Friends and Foes.
Octopus Arms Have a Mind of Their Own
Octopuses and their relatives stand out from other invertebrates in terms of their cognitive complexity and the range of their behaviors. Despite their evolutionary distance from humans and other vertebrates, these animals can use tools, solve complex puzzles, recognize individual people, and explore objects through play. They do all this and more with a completely unique nervous system.
Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Octopus Arms Have a Mind of Their Own.
Weird Ways Animal Moms Feed Their Babies
Any human mom can attest that keeping a baby fed and happy can be a Herculean task. That’s why some animal mothers have evolved some truly creative—and sometimes surprising—strategies. These include regurgitating nectar, sequestering toxins, and even self-sacrifice.
Read my latest for National Geographic's Weird & Wild news: Bats Regurgitate Nectar for Their Babies -- A New Discovery.