Jake Buehler

Jake Buehler is a freelance science writer, covering natural history, wildlife conservation and Earth's splendid biodiversity, from salamanders to sequoias. He has a master's degree in zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

All Stories by Jake Buehler

  1. A wandering salamander crawling on wood
    Animals

    ‘Wandering’ salamanders glide like skydivers from the world’s tallest trees

    Using their legs and tail, these amphibians have impressive control over their daring dives from coast redwood canopies.

  2. A caribou head appears behind a bush.
    Life

    Caribou gut parasites indirectly create a greener tundra

    Caribou merely sickened by parasites eat less vegetation, allowing plants to flourish.

  3. Myotis myotis bat hanging from the ceiling of a cave
    Life

    These bats buzz like wasps and bees. The sound may deter hungry owls

    Researchers have identified what may be the first known case of a mammal mimicking an insect.

  4. A male malleefowl looking at its mound nest
    Life

    How a mound-building bird shapes its Australian ecosystem

    In Australia’s mallee woodlands, malleefowl dutifully construct mounds to incubate their eggs, redistributing nutrients across the landscape.

  5. a cotton bollworm moth caterpillar on a leaf
    Life

    How a virus turns caterpillars into zombies doomed to climb to their deaths

    By manipulating genes used in vision, a virus sends its host caterpillar on a doomed quest for sunlight, increasing the chances for viral spread.

  6. Andean flamingos feed in a pool in a salt flat, with mountains in the background
    Life

    Lithium mining may be putting some flamingos in Chile at risk

    Climate change and lithium mining are threatening the flooded salt flats that flamingos in Chile depend on, a study suggests.

  7. fynbos shrubland next to lush forest on a hillside in South Africa
    Life

    Africa’s fynbos plants hold their ground with the world’s thinnest roots

    Long, thin roots help this South African shrubland commandeer soil nutrients and keep the neighboring forest from encroaching on its territory.

  8. male northern elephant seal
    Animals

    Male elephant seals aim to get huge or die trying

    Males will risk death to eat and grow as large as possible, since only the biggest males mate. But females aim for long-term survival.

  9. black and white image of a Paratuposa placentis beetle
    Animals

    These tiny beetles fly fast thanks to wing bristles and a weird, wide stroke

    Minuscule featherwing beetles have evolved a unique way of flying that lets them match the speed of beetles three times as big.

  10. fossilized skeletons of four kungas lying side by side
    Animals

    Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans

    Syria’s 4,500-year-old kungas were donkey-wild ass hybrids, genetic analysis reveals, so the earliest known example of humans crossing animal species.

  11. image of three Jonah’s icefish around two circular nests
    Animals

    The largest group of nesting fish ever found lives beneath Antarctic ice

    Researchers stumbled upon a fish breeding colony of unprecedented size, spanning a territory slightly larger than Baltimore.

  12. image of a blastoid sphere with blue and pink hues
    Health & Medicine

    ‘Blastoids’ made of stem cells offer a new way to study fertility

    Newly created “blastoids” could help with research on nonhormonal contraceptives and fertility treatments.