Why don’t poisonous animals poison themselves?

In an extract from her new book, The Atlas of Deadly Plants , author Jane Perrone takes us on a journey into the history and dangerous allure of popular plants such as lily of the valley

In a time when people are being asked to consider eating insects, we should, perhaps, learn a thing or two from the aardvark (Orycteropus afer), Africa’s ant-guzzling gourmand. On an average night, th

The theatre has seen many a human stage a hammy death, but few are quite as dramatic as those that occur in the animal kingdom every day. The ability to play dead, otherwise known as tonic immobility

One animal’s loss is a gain for hungry creatures with a taste for decay

How dead plants and animals decay, and how living organisms rely on this natural process to survive

Beavers and red kites may be flourishing in Britain, but the reintroduction of apex predators here is a trickier issue. Could there be practical and philosophical benefits and would a trial release of lynx be a worthwhile experiment?