Tail loss in limbless reptiles explained by specimens from natural history collections

This blog post is provided by Mario Moura and Henrique Costa and tells the #StoryBehindthePaper for the paper “Unwrapping broken tails: biological and environmental correlates of predation pressure in limbless reptiles“, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, they use natural history collections of snakes and limbless lizards from museums to explore where predation occurs. These animals can drop … Continue reading Tail loss in limbless reptiles explained by specimens from natural history collections

Mountain lion predation on wild donkeys rewires an ancient food web

This blog post is provided by Erick Lundgren and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the paper “A novel trophic cascade between cougars and feral donkeys shapes desert wetlands“, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Contrary to popular belief, they find that mountain lions are capable of hunting wild donkeys, positively affecting wetlands due to changes in donkey activity levels. Around 12,000 years … Continue reading Mountain lion predation on wild donkeys rewires an ancient food web