Egg mortality is one of the main factors affecting life history and conservation of oviparous species. A massive and cryptic colonisation of many leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) eggs is presented in the most important rookery for the species in Gabon. A total of 163 nests were exhumed at Kingere beach, revealing that only 16.7% of eggs produced hatchlings. In the 59% of the nests, more than half of the eggs were dead and attacked by invertebrates and 94% had at least one egg...

Examples of tool-use behaviours by animals outside foraging contexts are scarce and almos exclusively limited to primates. This work documents a case of tool use in the European Honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus), a forest raptor that uses green twigs cut from maple trees (Acer monspessulanum) as a tool to attract ants. Every morning, Honey Buzzards collectec fresh maple twigs, spread them on the ground, and stretch their wings full-length.