What’s New in Brains and Behavior
Greater mouse-tailed bat. Photo: Noam Cvikel.
Here are a few of the science stories I’ve enjoyed from the past month.
How Bats Avoid Mid-Air Collisions. How do bats avoid acoustic interference and mid-air collisions when emerging at night by the thousands? Using high-resolution tracking and bat-borne ultrasonic microphones, scientists collected data from wild bats emerging from a cave at dusk. They found that exiting bats made important changes to the ways they echolocated and moved that reduced the likelihood of collisions. Learn more about this research at The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science.
Cuttlefish Camouflage Their Motion with Dynamic Skin Pattern. Scientists report a new form of motion camouflage used by broadclub cuttlefish when approaching prey. The cuttlefish employ a moving skin display, passing dark stripes down across their heads and arms. The strong motion produced by the stripes may overwhelm the visual system of crabs, rendering the cuttlefish nearly invisible right before it pounces.
Animal Self-Medication. All sorts of mammals, birds, and even insects use plants, fungi, and other substances to treat what ails them. A new book argues that a better understanding of how other animals medicate themselves may help us discover new cures for human diseases. Read more at The Guardian.
Wonderfully Weird Naked Mole Rats. Like ants, naked mole rats live in underground colonies with a single reproductive queen. Despite weighing about as much as eight nickels, the rodents live for as long as bears and giraffes. Plus, they are remarkably resilient to low oxygen levels. Learn more in this conversation with Drs. Rochelle Buffenstein and Thomas Park in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Mental Health in Captive Reptiles. Caring for reptiles in captivity requires meeting their specific physical needs, such as temperature and diet. But reptiles have mental health needs, too. As we learn more about reptiles’ brains and cognitive capacities, the evidence for their sentience grows stronger.
Severance and the Science of Split-Brain Syndrome. In the TV show Severance, one’s consciousness can be split into two parts with the implantation of a brain chip. It’s fiction, but there is a real-life brain-splitting surgery that separates the right and left hemispheres to treat intractable epilepsy. Does this procedure create two minds in one brain? Read about its fascinating history at The Scientist.
Tools Helps Monkeys Expand Into New Environments. In Brazil, researchers documented golden-bellied capuchins living in dry forests outside of their usual rainforest habitat. What’s more, monkey populations in the dry forest use stone tools to access tough fruits, while those in the rainforest do not. Some researchers see parallels between the capuchins and our human ancestors, who may have also relied on tools to expand their range. Read more at New Scientist.
Do Narwhals Use Their Tusks to Play? Video captured with a remotely operated flying drone show wild narwhals wielding their tusks to investigate and play with their food. As Science News reports, it’s the first evidence of narwhals seemingly amusing themselves for fun.
A Penguin Retirement Home. Six African Penguins at the New England Aquarium in Boston are living out their golden years in a habitat designed with their physical and behavioral needs in mind. On this “retirement home” island, the social dynamic is more relaxed, the terrain is easier to navigate, and health treatments—which include acupuncture, physical therapy, and eye drops—are available daily. Read more and see photos and videos of the geriatric penguins at The New York Times.