Social distancing in nature

Forager ants do it, vampire bats do it, guppies do it, and mandrills do it. Long before humans learned about and started "social distancing due to COVID-19," animals in nature intuitively practiced social distancing when ...

Scientists learn how vampire bat strangers make friends

We humans can explain how our relationships with college roommates and co-workers have formed over the years, but scientists haven't had a good grip on how friendly connections among strangers are made between animals—until ...

One good turn: Birds swap energy-sapping lead role

Migrating birds 'share the pain' of the arduous task of leading a v-formation, so that they can then take turns saving energy by following in another bird's wake, a new study shows.

The first look at how rabies affects vampire bat social behavior

Vampire bats infected with the rabies virus aren't likely to act stereotypically "rabid," according to a new study—instead, infected male bats tended to withdraw socially, scaling back on the common habit of grooming each ...

New insight into the hunting patterns of ancient cephalopods

The Jurassic cephalopod Vampyronassa rhodanica, thought to be the oldest known ancestor of the modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), was likely an active hunter—a mode of life that is in contrast with its ...

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