Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the world of biology.

It is renowned for its sweet, soft, pear-shaped fruit. Its bark is smooth and gray, and it features large, palmate leaves that create a wide, low canopy. Fig trees typically thrive in USDA ...

Wherever there's dirt there's bound to be ants, but one particular group is so adept at blending in with the ground that they hold the name "dirt ant" (Basiceros) all to themselves. Now, an ...

These features include two layers of specialized hairs (or setae) for adhering soil and leaf litter particles against their bodies: longer erect “brush hairs” and shorter, appressed “holding hairs” ...

Or the Mallard Palmate, a duck’s “foot” crafted from dehydrated and fried duck with truffle “claws”. “The multi-course feast unfolds like a show with dishes crafted to look like the ...