After analyzing the eyes of 214 species of land animals, they discovered that pupil shapes are directly linked to an animal’s ecological niche.įor instance, animals with pupils that are vertically elongated, like domestic cats and geckos, are more likely to be ambush predators – hunters active day and night who use stealth, not strength or speed, to overcome their prey.Īnimals with horizontally elongated pupils, such as goats and sheep, are likely to be plant-eating prey animals, the researchers found. Their research appears in the current issue of Science Advances. Scientists from the Universities of California–Berkeley and Durham in Britain have discovered that eye shape can reveal whether a species is predator or prey. Have you ever wondered why your cat has long slits for pupils? They and their groves are a tenacious lot. ![]() Then again, Mediterranean farmers have been battling drought and heat for an estimated 6,000 years. Italians, who consume more high-value, extra virgin olive oil per capita than anyone else, run the risk of running out of the stuff before the new crop comes in this fall. Many blame climate change, suggesting that the region’s weather woes will continue for decades. In addition to weather challenges, its biggest olive-growing region is struggling to contain a bacterium that is killing olive trees. That’s a price hit for Americans, but nothing like the impact in Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, where per capita consumption of the golden liquid is some 10 times greater.In some ways, Italy is shouldering the biggest burden. Wholesale prices surged to a record in April, which in turn has boosted consumer costs. In the United States, it’s the opposite problem: too much rain and flooding in California this spring.The result: rising prices. In Europe, a drought, the worst in decades, has devastated the olive crop in Spain, the world’s largest producer of olive oil. ![]() Olive oil.Weather problems have caused concern on both sides of the Atlantic.
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