Clouds of noxious gas, stink bombs and purple smokescreens may sound like schoolboy pranks, but the animal world is just as capable of executing arresting chemical warfare, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee

Fluid in flight and perplexingly wide-ranging, the short-eared owl is a singular figure in the family– and a figure of particular terror to the vole

An ecosystem evolves across thousands of years, a biological interaction that is both intricate and fragile. The arrival of a new species can disrupt the balance, as we have seen in Britain with grey

Amazing answers to your curious questions

Adrian Thomas looks to the skies for three special birds that you may see over your garden or might even attract into your space to breed

Yossi Yovel The Genius Bat Understanding our most mysterious mammal 336pp. Oneworld. £20. Philosophy begins with wonder, according to Plato and Aristotle. As for philosophy, so, and more so, for biolo