Solving the Mystery of the Tully Monster

"It turns out to be a close relative of modern lampreys—those nightmarish, blood-sucking fish that are essentially toothed suction cups propelled by sinuous, eel-like bodies. But although the Tully monster is a lamprey at heart, it looks nothing like one from the outside. Its body is short and stout. Its eyes sit at the end of a rigid bar. And instead of the distinctive sucker, its mouth is a long, triple-jointed claw. It looks like the rejected doodle of a drunk fantasy artist." (Image: Sean McMahon)
 

 

The Weird Stories Behind America's Official State Fossils

"Still, their choice makes loads of sense compared to Georgia, which picked the shark tooth. Not the tooth of any particular species or genus of shark, like the monstrous megalodon, as chosen by North Carolina. Nope, just a generic “shark tooth.” That’s like picking “dinosaur leg” as your state fossil, or “bird” as your state animal. It’s even worse because shark jaws are conveyor belts that continually jettison old teeth, and so fossil teeth are extremely common. Georgia is the kid that didn’t really understand the assignment." (Image James St John)
 

What Causes These Mysterious Fairy Circles?

"In the desert of northwest Australia, about 10 miles east of the small mining town of Newman, lies a natural wonder. If you fly overhead, you’ll see vast carpets of green spinifex grass, pockmarked by barren red circles, as if some deity had repeatedly stubbed out a cosmic cigar on the parched landscape. These disks of bare soil are called “fairy circles,” and they’re not unique to Australia—they also exist 6,000 miles away in Namibia. There, the circles number in the millions, and extend over some 1,500 miles of desert. They comprise different grasses but their patterns are the same: low-lying vegetation freckled by circles of empty soil. They almost seem alive, growing and shrinking with a lifespan of 30 to 60 years." (Image: Kevin Sanders)
 

Why Komodo Dragons Are Like The Entire Cat Family

"The team found, unsurprisingly, that the dragons take on larger prey as they get bigger. But this transition isn’t smooth. At first, they stick to small, lightweight prey like rodents. But when they hit the 20 kilogram mark, they switch to taking down prey much larger than themselves, including 50 kilogram rusa deer and water buffalo. The change is sudden and total. One year, they’re going after scurrying, lightweight meals. The next, they’re feeding entirely on hoofed quarry." (Image: Charles J Sharp)
 

More good reads

• The quest to save the world's coral reefs. By Meehan Crist
• Most popular theories of consciousness are worse than wrong. In which Michael Graziano talks about phlegm a lot.
• Rose Eveleth imagines a future with no pets.
• Delightful: "My Dinosaur’s Jet Lag Helps Explain Why a Time Change Is Hard.” By Heather Murphy
• Things that can spread conjunctivitis: scuba masks and tiny flies. By Rebecca Kreston.  
• How gender neutral is "guys," you guys? By Stan Carey
• Under Pressure: Will Deep-Sea Animals Explode or Implode on the Surface? The answer is neither, and the reasons are really interesting. By Craig McClain.
• It's Okay to Cry at Work: fascinating on the biology of crying, by Olga Khazan
• Meet the winners of the 2016 Wellcome Image Awards

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And that's it! Thanks for reading.

-Ed