The kids are back in school, the nights are growing longer and even here in California an unmistakable chill lingers in the air. A summer packed with amazing animal stories has officially come to an end. Wildlife news tends to get pushed to the back page during the frenetic fall-to-spring news cycle, with that in mind we’ll look back at some of the most unusual creature features that made the headlines this summer:
Bomber Worms 
The oceans cover more than 70% of our planets surface and humans have only just begun to discover the living wonders hidden in the deep sea. Every year new animals are discovered in the ocean depths that are far weirder than even the most deranged sci-fi author could imagine. This summer’s weirdo is the swimming annelid worm Swima bombiviridis a very distant relative of the familiar earthworms that live in your garden. Unlike the humble earthworm however, Swima is a worm with an attitude. As described by researchers in the journal Science when threatened by predators these worms launch bioluminescent glowing “bombs” to confuse their attackers. The sudden flash of light is thought to distract the predator or make it difficult for it to see the escaping worm. Video of this dazzling denizen of the deep can be seen on YouTube.
Swimming Animals Stir Up the Seas 
From the newly discovered bomber worms to enormous blue whales, billions of creatures swim through the world’s oceans. As they swim they stir the water, and a recent scientific study that measured the currents generated by swimming jellyfish suggests that swimming animals may actually be an important factor in the global mixing of the oceans. These findings confirm a speculation made by Charles Darwin more than a century and a half earlier. Ocean mixing plays an important role in stabilizing the climate and keeping the marine ecosystems we rely on for food healthy – who said jellyfish never did anything for you?
Sonar-Jamming Moths 
Bats are one of the most diverse groups of mammals on earth and their spectacular success has been fueled by two key evolutionary breakthroughs: powered-flight and sonar. Armed with these adaptations a single bat can eat more than half of its own body weight in bugs every night. In the face of this predatory pressure, insects have evolved some tricks of their own. Tiger moths have long been known to generate ultrasonic sound but scientists have debated whether this adaptation was used to startle bats or locate mates. A recent study confirms that at least some tiger moths use their high-pitched whines to “jam” the sonar of bats. While this discovery doesn’t rule out other uses for the high pitched sounds in tiger moths, it does demonstrate that predator evasion is one factor in the evolution of this unique behavior and shows that moths may be cleverer than we usually give them credit for!
Zombie Birds
As if crafty sonar-jamming moths weren’t enough to worry about already, this summer brought even more troubling news for bats: birds with a taste for bat brains! It seems that a population of Great Tits (Parus major) has taken to pecking open the skulls of pipistrelle bats still groggy from winter hibernation. This ghoulish behavior helps the birds to survive when their normal food sources are scarce. The disturbing discovery was made in the Carpathian Mountains, not far from the legendary home of Dracula – Transylvanian vampires may want to reconsider posing as bats!
Stabbed in Self Defense 
Many newts protect themselves from predators by secreting poison from their skin. The amazing ribbed newt (gen sp.) from Spain takes this defensive move one step further by piercing its own skin with sharpened ribs. These ribs then act as a row of poison-tipped spines along the sides of the animal. Any newt hungry predator that tries to bite down is in for a nasty surprise. While this unusual defense strategy has been known for over a century, scientists have used X-rays to unlock the secret mechanism that allows the ribs to swing forward and puncture the skin. Amazingly, the newts appear to suffer no ill-effects from stabbing themselves—they are immune to their own poison and are able to repair their skin rapidly.
Neil Kelley divulges his affinity for all things animal on his blog, Microecos.
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