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Discusses the recent discovery of the first reptile and four species of frog to survive natural freezing. Freezing confined to extracellular space; No hope to discover frozen Neanderthals.

Discusses the occurrence of a rise in metabolic heat above ambient temperatures in the `Arum' lily. Salicylic acid trigger for heat production; Timing of heat phases; Attraction of insect pollinators.

Discusses discovery by scientist Terry Root of a temperature-dependence of some species borders that is strikingly consistent with and closely tied to physiologic al mechanisms. Study of the Christmas bird.

Focuses on studies of a diabetes epidemic on a Pacific islet carried out by Paul Zimmet and colleagues. Differences between type II diabetes--non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM); and type I diabetes (IDDM); Prevalence of diabetes among older adults on Nauru Island; NIDDM and new lifestyle changes; More.

Details the study of habitat variables conducted by T. Schoener and G. Adler, and explains how the have come up with a highly effective way of separating the effects of species interactions on species distributions from the effects of those variables. Competitors' ecological similarities; The bird species of the Bismarck archipelago; Schoener and Adler's techniques; Masking effects of habitat variables; Future studies; More.

Ponders some of the possible explanations of why pygmies are smaller than other human beings. Letter from the Egyptian Pharaoh Nefrikare over 4,000 years ago which mentions a `dancing dwarf'; The problems of measuring the growth rate of nomadic,illiterate people who lack a calendar; Possibility that the pygmies have abnormally low levels of insulin-like growth factor; Work of Merimee and Rimoin; Bailey's long-term study of the Efe pygmies in Zaire's Ituri forest; More.

States that two recent monographs on Hawaiian bird extinction demonstrate the results of insular evolution and illuminate the contentious problem of the Late Quaternary extinctions of continents. Olson and James' studies of late Holocene fossils;Adaptive radiation; More.

Discusses objections to the evidence that Neanderthals ritually buried their dead. Responses; Argument.

Discusses homosexual female pairs of wild birds and how this phenomenon may be an adaptation compatible with reproduction and favored by natural selection under conditions of male scarcity. Observations.

Reports on documented evidence of one dog killing 900 kiwi birds in the Waitangi State Forest, New Zealand. Large, flightless, national birds confined to New Zealand and adjacent islands. Importance of control of introduced pests; German shepherd dog believed responsible.