Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Toucans, Orchids, Monkeys and more
![Toco toucan](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/z8k_fJtIcNcqeZBCo0FbKBu3ADs=/1000x750/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/toco-toucan-631.jpg)
Observed
![Capuchin monkey](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/P8pHN6zvw3iJdNLU-mdnshPiYRU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/tufted-capuchin-monkey-520.jpg)
Look Out: Capuchins, which live in groups of 7 to 30, peep and hiccup to alert group members to feline or serpentine predators.
Look Away: It's now known that capuchins issue false alarms, peeping or hiccuping in the absence of cats or snakes—but in the presence of food.
Look Again: The alarms scare other group members away from food sources, says Brandon Wheeler of Stony Brook University. If the calls are intentional, he says, they would be the first "tactical deceptions" seen in non-human primates.
Learn more about the tufted capuchins at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Toucan Beak Heats Up
![Toco toucan](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/3STa-ABkszMLxcYIv4MoUmA6KQY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/toco-toucan-520.jpg)
Learn more about the toco toucan at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Read more about toucans at our Surprising Science blog.
Stirring Up The Ocean
![Mastigias Jellyfish](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/KXSlLCtZb-ldTox6gI1i76lownM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/mastigias-jellyfish-520.jpg)
Learn more about mastigias jellyfish at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Read more about jellyfish at our Surprising Science blog.
An Orchid's Deceptive Perfume
![Hornet landing on Dendrobium sinense](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/K8udcTHQhMT_XYc9WHk1OV7cx6U=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hornet-Dendrobium-sinense-520.jpg)
Learn more about the Dendrobium sinense orchid at the Encyclopedia of Life.
Read more about orchids at our Surprising Science blog.
Fire Power
![Tool made from fire](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/YX0XcuRenSUivy_mXR9UiOdfFf0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/tools-made-from-heated-silcrete-520.jpg)