Wasps are some of the most misunderstood creatures on the planet, but you definitely do not want to harass them. Although the ubiquitous insects are quite pretty — northern paper wasps, for example, sport various shades of black, yellow, brown and gold on their exoskeletons — these particular wasps are also quite aggressive if they believe their colonies are being threatened....
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From the “Little Mermaid” character Sebastian to pet hermit crabs, people think crabs are wonderful — but some experts believe the way we treat crabs is downright barbaric.
“If crustaceans screamed when they were dropped into boiling water, I doubt we’d still be having these kinds of discussions.”
Like many other decapods (the class that also includes lobsters, shrimp, crayfish and prawns), crabs are a popular food item....
Originally posted on salon.com
Humans are often thought to be the only animals capable of language. But it’s difficult to prove a negative like this because we’ll never definitively know the subjective interior monologues of other animals, if they even exist. Nonetheless, much research has been poured into the study of animal intellect and whether creatures like orcas, pigeons and octopuses share a similar type of sentience, especially when it comes to our close primate cousins, chimpanzees....
Originally posted on salon.com
Octopus minds are notoriously mysterious. Earlier this year, when scientists published a study on measuring octopus brain waves in the journal Current Biology, they were forced to admit that the results were hard to decipher; some of the waves looked similar to those in mammalian brains, but others seemed entirely alien....
Originally posted on salon.com
Visiting a zoo is one of the best places to ponder the points of view of animals. How do they feel about being locked in a cage? Are they happy or unhappy in their current lives? And, perhaps somewhat selfishly, what do these animals think of us — the humans who are observing them?...
Originally posted on salon.com