Spiders and Centipedes Devour Frogs, Snakes -- and an Opossum
Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb

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

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Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys Nurse Other Females' Infants
Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys Nurse Other Females' Infants

Being a mom is hard enough, but imagine mothering someone else’s kids, too. That’s the norm for golden snub-nosed monkeys, according to a new study in the journal Science Advances. Scientists found that over a five-year period, more than 87 percent of golden snub-nosed monkey infants were nursed by females other than their mothers – a phenomenon called allonursing.

Read the whole story at National Geographic: Why Do These Monkeys Nurse Each Other's Babies?

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Bats Provide Pest Control Services to Deer
Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb Animals, Ecology, Nature maryb

Bats Provide Pest Control Services to Deer

There are a dozen or so species of blood-sucking flies that plaguewhite-tailed deer. There is little a deer can do to defend themselvesfrom these biting fly attacks.

But what is a painful nuisance to a deer is also a dinner buffet for bats. In a new study, researchers report numerous instances of insect-eating bats feeding on the swarms of flies attracted to white-tailed deer.

Read my post about it here: Bats Provide Pest Control Services to Deer

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