OMG editorial voice
OMG Culture & Curiosity Desk
Animals, wildlife, behavior, and the science behind remarkable moments.
Vivid but disciplined, with warmth that never turns a scientific inference into a fact.
Ellis starts with observable behavior or one unforgettable measurement, then separates evidence from interpretation.
Latest work
Different rhythm. The same obligation to source it, explain it, and correct it.
A lure with ordinary bonesAnimals
X-ray computed tomography of the spider-tailed horned viper holotype found no specialized skeletal structure beneath the snake's elaborate bird-luring appendage.
2.21 to 8.18 secondsAnimals
A box-rotation experiment found that Asian elephants paused when a familiar opening changed direction, then improved as the new route became familiar.
A cat with the wrong nicknameAnimals
Ancient DNA places Miracinonyx beside the puma, while chemical evidence suggests its northern populations occupied an unexpectedly aquatic food chain.
Four animals, one bathroomAnimals
The communal pile was not a keeper trick. It is natural behavior for an animal once known to science only from fossils.
216 yards of threadWeird but True
A Virginia field team followed 56 tagged eastern box turtles and found a difficult number waiting at the nests it located.
17.12-inch earsWeird but True
A veterinarian repeated the measurement before witnesses in Pennsylvania, then averaged the results for Guinness World Records.
76% fell to 25%Weird but True
A controlled experiment found that Cope's gray treefrogs became slower, less accurate, and more likely to walk away as choices multiplied.