The video showed sea turtles chasing and biting. They were nudging and nuzzling each other too. No one was more surprised than the scientists who filmed them. Why? Because sea turtles have always been thought to be loners. Turns out, these ocean reptiles may not be total party animals, but they do like to check each other out sometimes.
Marine biologist Nathan Robinson studies juvenile green sea turtles in the Bahamas. He designed and built a camera that fits on a sea turtle’s shell. He calls it TurtleCam and uses it to record the animals’ underwater activity. At first, he wanted to use the footage to find out what they were eating. Robinson wondered if there was enough food for all the turtles that lived around the island. But he learned far more than that.
Cool Discovery
Yes, the turtles were foraging for food. But each video also shows them interacting. Sometimes they rub up against one another in a friendly way as if they’re giving a hug. Sometimes the turtles are kind of pushy, nipping or bumping into one another.
Robinson says he’ll need to collect a lot more data to explain exactly what this turtle behavior means. But he and other scientists who look at the video footage think one of the reasons might be that the turtles are protecting their territory.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2020-Ausgabe von Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2020-Ausgabe von Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.