If you tried to build a house, mucus is one of the worst materials you could use. Some ocean-dwellers would disagree, though, with intricate ‘snot palaces’ that help them to eat and not get eaten. Larvaceans (lar-VAY-shee-ans) are a type of sea creature that look a bit like a tadpole. In only forty-five minutes, they … Continue reading Inside the larvacean’s snot palace →

From above, there isn’t anything particularly strange about glass frogs. In fact, they look about as normal as a frog can possibly get. However, a glance at their bellies provides a much more unusual view. Only the skin on a glass frog’s back contains any colour, and even then it doesn’t have much. Across the … Continue reading Predators see straight through the glass frog’s disguise →

Humans have it pretty good. When we’re hungry, we can just go to the kitchen, or at worst, the shop, and get something to eat. Other animals don’t have this luxury, so bumblebees have developed their own trick to make sure there’s always food on the menu. Bumblebees spend their winters hibernating, and when they … Continue reading Hungry bees can make plants flower early →

If you ever visit a glacier, there’s a chance you might see some small balls of moss scattered across the ice. These are called ‘glacier mice’, and they have a mysterious habit of rolling around in groups. Glacier mice are shaped like fuzzy squashed balls, but they don’t have a particular top or bottom. They … Continue reading The moss-terious movement of glacier mice →

Coral bleaching, where entire reefs can go ghostly white, is becoming an increasing common environmental issue. However, some species have an appropriately colourful way of saving themselves – creating a neon-coloured ‘sunscreen’. Corals are very unusual animals. Each individual ‘polyp’ is usually only a couple of centimetres across, but they build on top of each … Continue reading Coral’s neon sunscreen could save reefs →