Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Feathered dinosaurs, white-coated horses, giant redwoods and more...
- By Amanda Bensen, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Erica R. Hendry and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, April 2010
Sequoias in Northern California (iStockphoto)
Coast redwoods, which can grow more than 300 feet tall and live 2,000 years, depend on fog, which protects them during droughts. A University of California at Berkeley study suggests the trees may be in trouble: coastal fog in Northern California and Oregon has inexplicably decreased by 33 percent since the early 20th century.
Learn more about coast redwoods at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Additional Sources
“Bonobos voluntarily share their own food with others,” Brian Hare and Suzy Kwetuenda, Current Biology, March 9, 2010
“An unexpected advantage of whiteness in horses: the most horsefly-proof horse has a depolarizing white coat,” Gábor Horváth et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, February 3, 2010
“A dinoflagellate exploits toxins to immobilize prey prior to ingestion,” Jian Sheng et al., PNAS, January 19, 2010
“Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur,” Quanguo Li et al., Science, February 4, 2010
“Climatic context and ecological implications of summer fog decline in the coast redwood region,” James A. Johnstone and Todd E. Dawson, PNAS, February 16, 2010
Comments (4)
I love horses.
Posted by Baileigh on September 2,2010 | 05:23 PM
this sight is awesome!!! i love animals & history so this sight rocks.
Posted by Alex on April 14,2010 | 05:06 PM
What if a dark-coated horse and a white-coated horse were to breed? Wouldn't the colt be gray, therefore minimizing the medical problems of a white horse but still having some of the same anti-polarizing effect on the fly?
Posted by Erica K. on March 29,2010 | 03:41 PM
Beautiful!
Posted by Mike on March 19,2010 | 03:50 PM