An ant infected by Ophiocordyceps leaves its colony, climbs a plant and clamps its jaws onto the underside of a leaf, often around noon, at a height where humidity suits the fungus. It dies in that position. A stalk then sprouts from its head and showers spores on ants below. The fungus controls the ant by invading its muscles with its filaments.
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.