It’s a much-understudied area of animal behavior. But play, as it turns out, may serve many developmental functions. A new book, “Kingdom of Play,” explores what play looks like in many types of creatures and in the process provides a deft synthesis of evolutionary biology, neurology and the history of science to examine its elusive nature. A BookShelf review from Jenny Weeks.
"ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. — In April, the latest glimmer of hope appeared here in the only spot on Earth where endangered red wolves remain in the wild. Five pups were born to a pair of wolves — a female known as 2413, and a male known as 2444 — marking the third year in a row that at least one new litter began life in this corner of coastal North Carolina."
"The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent."
"Parts of the Arctic are enduring exceptionally high temperatures — up 30 to 40 degrees above normal — because of multiple intense heat domes."
"The Mobile-Tensaw Delta — a lush, vibrant and surprisingly intact over 400-square-mile (1,036-square-kilometer) expanse of cypress swamps, oxbow lakes, marshland, hardwood stands and rivers — is teeming with more aquatic species than almost anywhere in North America."
"The world is currently seeing the fastest-spreading, largest-ever outbreak of H5N1, a highly contagious, deadly strain of avian influenza. Scientists say this virus now presents an existential threat to the world’s biodiversity, with the risk to humans rising as it continues to leap the species barrier, reaching new host species."
"Perched on a nest atop a green navigation marker in Maryland’s Harris Creek, the osprey glared, spread its wings and started hopping as a boatload of people drew near."
"Less than half of stunned or injured birds survive a collision with a window, research has found, pushing up estimates that more than 1 billion birds may die each year from flying into buildings in the US."
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