Environmental Science · Global and Planetary Change
Predators can trigger different body shapes in Rana pirica tadpoles. The shapes improve swimming efficiency, but the swollen body that helps protect tadpoles from being swallowed also creates drag and reduces escape performance compared with a deeper tail alone.
A study of juvenile white sharks off New South Wales, Australia, found that sharks tagged together in the same place tended to return to the nursery area and be detected near one another in later years. The overall pattern did not show clear non-random association, leaving the extent of social behavior uncertain.
A 2020–2021 survey in Afghanistan’s Takhar Province identified 14 amphibian and reptile species or species groups. The records included the province’s first documented snakes, among them the venomous oxiana cobra, and increased the known total to at least 20 species.
Bromeliad water tanks may provide short-lived aquatic habitats for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the fungus that causes amphibian chytrid disease. Researchers detected the fungus in 11.3% of sampled bromeliads and found it in 23.0% of sampled amphibians, with amphibian prevalence linked to elevation, rainfall and temperature.
Alpine marmots played less as temperatures rose, while grooming, greetings and aggressive interactions remained comparatively stable. The researchers suggest that declining play could be an early sign of heat stress, although its long-term effects were not measured.
