Jake Buehler

Jake Buehler is a freelance science writer, covering natural history, wildlife conservation and Earth's splendid biodiversity, from salamanders to sequoias. He has a master's degree in zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

All Stories by Jake Buehler

  1. A photo of an Andean condor flying.
    Animals

    A 2,200-year-old poop time capsule reveals secrets of the Andean condor

    Guano that has accumulated in a cliffside Andean condor nest for 2,200 years reveals how the now-vulnerable birds responded to a changing environment.

  2. An image of several sea walnuts floating in dark water.
    Life

    Comb jellies have a bizarre nervous system unlike any other animal

    A 3-D map of the comb jelly “nerve net” reveals fused neurons that lack the space, or synapses, most neurons use to communicate. Did it evolve independently?

  3. An illustration of a Tyrannosaurus eating a smaller dinosaur with half of that dino's body visible.
    Life

    T. rex may have had lips like a modern lizard’s

    Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed as lipless, but new research suggests this wasn’t so.

  4. A photo of a Tyto alba barn owl standing on a log on the ground. The owl is looking at the camera with its body turned away.
    Animals

    Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers

    Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.

  5. A juvenile bigclaw snapping shrimp in a lab dish next to a ruler
    Animals

    The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp

    When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.

  6. A cluster of greater horseshoe bats hanging upside down in a cave
    Life

    Mammals that live in groups may live longer, longevity research suggests

    An analysis of nearly 1,000 mammal species reveals that the evolution of mammals’ social lives and life spans could be linked.

  7. photo of an African penguin standing on a rock and bowing its head
    Life

    Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction

    For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.

  8. a wild red jungle fowl, which looks like a colorful rooster, standing in a forest
    Animals

    Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

    Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

  9. A photo of a female common death adder on a bed of leaves
    Animals

    Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong

    Snakes were long thought to be the only reptile group to lack clitorises. But new findings suggest the sex organs are present after all.

  10. Two heavily armored dinosaurs swing long tail clubs at one another, crossing against the sunset on a strangely barren landscape
    Paleontology

    Armored dinos may have used their tail clubs to bludgeon each other

    Broken and healed spikes on Zuul's flanks are consistent with the armored beast receiving a mighty blow from the tail club of another ankylosaur.

  11. three gray wolves standing in the snow
    Life

    A parasite makes wolves more likely to become pack leaders

    In Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves infected with Toxoplasma gondii make riskier decisions, making them more likely to split off from the pack.

  12. A close up photo of a squirrel glider sitting on a tree branch and looking at the camera
    Animals

    Long considered loners, many marsupials may have complex social lives

    Some marsupials may be more sociable than previously thought, opening the door to a possible deep legacy of social organization systems in mammals