Answers to Last Issue's Do You Know?
1. Since plants cannot see, how can they evolve to adapt to attract specific insects?
Ans: Many flowers use colours to attract insects, sometimes helped by coloured guiding marks. Flowers are often shaped to provide a landing platform for visiting insects or to force them to brush against anthers and stigmas. A number of flowers have sugary nectar to attract insects. Flowers have sticky pollen grains which get stuck to the body of insects and get carried away to other flowers. Rose, marigold, sunflower, and China rose are some examples of insect-pollinated flowers.
Some flowers have scent to attract insects. Many of these scents are pleasing to humans too, but not all – some flowers attract flies with a smell of rotting meat. Colours can’t be seen in the dark, so scent is important for flowers that are pollinated by night-flying insects such as moths.

2. When animals get sick, do they use medicine?
Ans: Wild animals have developed various behaviors and instincts to help them cope with illness and injury. A common strategy is to rest in a safe, quiet place. Some species engage in zoopharmacognosy, where they consume specific plants or substances that have medicinal properties. For example:
- Elephants may eat specific herbs to relieve discomfort.
- Chimpanzees have been observed eating leaves of Veronia plant that have anti-parasitic properties (Tanzanians also use this herb!). Moreover, chimpanzees who are not sick do not eat these leaves as they are bitter.
- Baboons live both above and below the Awash water falls in Ethiopia. Only those living below the falls ate the Balanite date tree’s fruit. This fruit is known to repel snails living in the water. Baboons living above the falls were not in contact with the water-snails and therefore had no need of the medicinal fruit.
- Many animals eat minerals like clay or charcoal for their curative properties, or even soil with high kaolin content.
There are many more examples.

3. Did Neanderthals have families?
Ans: By analysing ancient DNA recovered from bone fragments found in two Siberian caves, researchers have identified a set of closely related Neanderthals: a father and daughter, as well as several other more-distant relatives. The work suggests that Neanderthal communities were small, and that females may have left their families to join other groups.

4. Sometimes, you get poor quality signal on your cell phone. Why does that happen?
Ans: In the next issue of JM.

Sources: Many online sources, including https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/80-attracting-pollinators