Wild Things: Feathered dinosaurs, king crabs and spotted hyenas
Traveling snails, brainwashed rats and more updates from the world of wildlife
- By T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Joseph Stromberg, Abigail Tucker and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, November 2011
The rigid stance and dilated pupils show this mother cat's excitement as she returns to her litter with a freshly-killed mouse. (© DK Limited / Corbis)
To reproduce, the parasite Toxoplasma gondii needs to get from a rat into a cat. It’s known that infected rats don’t fear the scent of cat urine. New research led by Stanford University adds to the bizarre tale: When infected male rats smell cats, the brain region that responds to female rats is activated. That is: The rats are attracted to cats.
Additional Sources
“A Diverse Assemblage of Late Cretaceous Dinosaur and Bird Feathers from Canadian Amber,” Ryan C. McKellar et al., Science, September 16, 2011
“Flying shells: historical dispersal of marine snails across Central America,” Osamu Miura et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, September 14, 2011
“Numerical assessment and individual call discrimination by wild spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta,” Sarah Benson-Amram et al., Animal Behaviour, October 2011
“A large population of king crabs in Palmer Deep on the west Antarctic Peninsula shelf and potential invasive impacts,” Craig R. Smith et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, September 7, 2011
“Predator Cat Odors Activate Sexual Arousal Pathways in Brains of Toxoplasma gondii Infected Rats,” Patrick K. House et al., PLoS ONE, August 17, 2011
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