Wolf

Humans have always imagined the natural world. From Ice Age cave paintings to the modern day, we depict the animals and landscapes we value—and ignore those we don't.

Human–wildlife coexistence is often far from straightforward, with predators particularly hard hit: their numbers tend to fall sharply in areas close to human settlements, fields and pastureland. This is not, however, a simple case of inevitable decline, but a question of choices, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki argues in his recent study. Human attitudes towards predators play a crucial role in determining whether coexistence is possible.

The bond between humans and dogs is one of nature's most enduring partnerships, but exactly when it began has long been a mystery. Now, a new study has turned back the clock. The study, titled "Dogs were widely distributed in Western Eurasia during the Palaeolithic," is published in the journal Nature.

Evidence of some of the earliest dogs has been identified at two University of Liverpool/British Institute at Ankara archaeological excavation projects in central Anatolia, Turkey. Shedding new light on the development and spread of early domestic dogs, the findings are documented in two papers published in Nature.

Odin was a kelpie. Attentive and protective, with a happy smile and an endless hope for food, he succumbed to a terminal disease late last year. At his death, a deep sense of grief ripped through the household of one of us (Andrew): While Odin was not human, he was an irreplaceable member of the family.