About 85% of vascular plant species form mycorrhizae: fungi team up with their roots and extend a web of filaments through the soil. The fungi supply water, phosphorus and nitrogen in exchange for sugars made by photosynthesis. This partnership, more than 400 million years old, probably helped plants conquer dry land.
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.