Author: Benjamin Blonder
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Hiding in plain sight
How many species are living around you right now? The answer may be larger than you think. Last week I was in the mountains of Greece with a group of biologists, and we challenged ourselves to answer this question. In two hours of walking around the forest, how many species could we find and positively…
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Choosing the right time to flower
The fall crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is visible all over Denmark now, making a strange sight – a plant with large flowers and no leaves, blooming just a few days before the first frost is likely to occur. The timing of flowering in plants is very important to their evolutionary fitness – the wrong choice can…
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A rare invitation
Some invitations are sufficiently singular to merit an initial look of disbelief. Such was the one I recently received from the Zoologisk Museum (part of the Københavns Universitet). It was an invitation for a zebra barbecue. Let me say, simply, that it was the first party I have ever attended in a dissection room.
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A disturbance in the forest
The forests of Scandinavia look beautiful in the autumn. What secrets do they hold? Color changes are beginning. The red coloration you see here is surprising, because it is mostly North American species that turn red – European species are overwhelmingly more likely to turn yellow. The explanation for this pattern remains a matter of…