Professor Innes Cuthill from the University of Bristol describes his Scientific Spark. Danielle Klomp from the University of New South Wales, tells me about two populations of gliding lizard that have diverged in gliding membrane colouration to match the colours of their local falling leaves, and that mimicking falling leaves is an adaptation that functions to reduce predation by birds. I also find out how birds heard tornadoes coming and fled one day ahead.

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Falling leaf mimic - Bornean gliding lizard, Draco cornutus

Quicklinks:

Danielle Klomp's paper in Biology Letters

Danielle Klomp's blog

Tornadic Storm Avoidance Behavior in Breeding Songbirds - Current Biology

Innes Cuthill's Camo Lab