Animal deaths on UK roads fell sharply during covid-19 lockdowns
1 May 2023
The coronavirus lockdowns presented a rare natural experiment to see what happens to wildlife collisions when the traffic declines drastically
-
Subject
-
Section
-
Type
-
Topics
-
Author
-
Issue
-
Premium
The garden dormouse glows under UV light - but we don’t know why
23 March 2023
The garden dormouse, a small European rodent species, has joined a growing list of animals known to display photoluminescence – but the reason for the phenomenon is a mystery
Shock collars could keep elephants out of conflict with humans
27 February 2023
Elephants fitted with electric shock collars quickly learn to avoid approaching the place where they get shocked, suggesting a way to keep elephants away from crops that may be more humane than alternative approaches
Bandicoots can be trained to flee predators more quickly
13 February 2023
After being captured and released by researchers, seven species of Australian marsupial, including bandicoots and bettongs, learned to flee more quickly the second time
Hurricane that hit Jamaica helped low-lying trees spread to mountains
12 July 2022
Hurricane Gilbert struck Jamaica in 1988, and the damage it left in its wake might have allowed warm-adapted trees that normally grow at low altitudes to take root on the island’s mountains
Jackals seen stealing kills from lynx as they expand range in Europe
10 May 2022
Camera traps in Slovenia have recorded golden jackals eating deer recently killed by Eurasian lynx in the first sign of conflict between these carnivores
Spiderwebs catch microplastic particles floating in city air
29 April 2022
Tiny plastic particles from clothing and car tyres stick to spiders’ webs in cities, which could prove useful to researchers monitoring this form of pollution
Marsquakes happen more often during the planet’s northern summer
9 November 2021
The NASA Insight lander has measured the frequency of shallow marsquakes and found they are more common when it is summer in Mars’s northern hemisphere
Female seahorses forget their pregnant male partners if separated
26 October 2021
Some seahorses pair for life, with the males carrying the pregnancies – but if the pair are separated for even a few days, the female seems to forget the male
Antarctic seal numbers rose and fell with climate over 50,000 years
28 September 2021
DNA suggests the Antarctic fur seal population has grown and shrunk as the climate has warmed and cooled, and this might help predict where the mammal will move in future
