(Jul 29, 2021) Animals that resemble each other may not be closely related. Sometimes the setting shapes their bodies more than their ancestry. Manatees may look like whales or walruses, but that is only because they adapted to the marine environment in a similar way. Martha Foley and Curt stager talk about convergent evolution.

Natural Selections

Natural Selections: Why manatees are related to elephants, and whales are related to deer

(Jul 22, 2021) The big marine herbivore, the manatee, is thought by some to be the origin of mermaid legends, but it&apos;s not closely related to humankind or even to whales and other marine mammals.

The manatee: like the mermaid, its kin live on land

(Jul 15, 2021) Lake trout require a lot of cold, oxygenated water to survive. Lakes in the Adirondacks of upstate New York are at the southern edge of their natural range. Although about 100 Adirondack lakes and ponds are still home to lake trout, even a small increase in temperature could sharply cut that number.

Natural Selections: Can ADK lake trout survive climate change?

(Jul 8, 2021) Researchers have found that variations in the wingspan of cliff swallows has a measurable impact on their survival in a human-dominated environment.

Natural Selections: The shorter winged Cliff Swallows prevail

Natural Selections: Turns out bullheads ('trash fish') are really good parents

Natural Selections: hyenas get a bad rap

Natural Selections: Why does hair just keep growing?

Natural Selections: The curious history of Malaria in the U.S.

(May 27, 2021) A coral reef is kind of like Manhattan, a huge number of mouths to feed in a packed parcel of real estate. A reef doesn&apos;t have upstate farms to keep them all fed. So how do they get by?

Natural Selections: Where do coral reefs get their food supply?

Natural Selections: The many virtues of the silk-making insect

(May 13, 2021) Few creatures move with more grace than deer. Martha Foley compares them to ballerinas. Curt Stager says there&apos;s a reason for that. As ballerinas often do, deer walk on their tip-toes.

Natural Selections: The tip-toe ballet of the walking deer

Natural Selections: Smells like turf spirit

Sand and sandstone: mountains recycled into beaches, beaches petrified into bedrock

Natural Selections - Your body is smart, it knows when you're thirsty. But how?

(Apr 15, 2021) Curt Stager has his students start the semester by picking out a "pet rock." At the end of term, they have to tell the story of that rock - what it is, what it&apos;s made of, and what happened to shape it it over the ages.

Every rock tells a story

Conversations about the natural world with Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley, from member-supported North Country Public Radio. 010329

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Natural Selections

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