Schizophyllum commune, a small fan-shaped mushroom found on dead wood worldwide, has more than 20,000 'mating types'. Two individuals can mate as long as they differ at two genetic regions, each with many variants. As a result, almost any encounter is compatible. For this fungus, finding a partner is never a problem.
In 2022, a young tagged bar-tailed godwit flew from Alaska to Tasmania in about 11 days of nonstop flight, covering 13,560 km without eating, drinking or landing. Before departure, these birds pile on huge fat reserves and shrink their digestive organs, which are useless during the journey.
To escape rivals, a dung beetle rolls its ball of dung in a straight line. At night, it holds its course using the glowing band of the Milky Way. In a planetarium, researchers showed that beetles rolled straight under a starry sky but wandered aimlessly when the galaxy was switched off. It was the first animal known to navigate this way.