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Cannibalism

She's A Man-Eater, And That's OK With Male Orb-Weaving Spiders

Cyrtophora citricola, a type of orb-weaving spider, live in big colonies. So males potentially have a large pool of females from which to choose a mate. Buschwerk/Flickr hide caption

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Buschwerk/Flickr

The Two-Way

She's A Man-Eater, And That's OK With Male Orb-Weaving Spiders

Usually in nature, the females choose the males they mate with. But researchers say a type of male orb-weaving spider selects the female — which will cannibalize him afterward.

She's A Man-Eater, And That's OK With Male Orb-Weaving Spiders

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Bones Tell Tale Of Desperation Among The Starving At Jamestown

The four cuts at the top of this skull "are clear chops to the forehead," says Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley. Based on forensic evidence, researchers think the blows were made after the person died. Donald E. Hurlbert/Smithsonian hide caption

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Donald E. Hurlbert/Smithsonian

The Salt

Bones Tell Tale Of Desperation Among The Starving At Jamestown

The winter of 1609-1610 has been called the "starving time" for the hundreds of men and women who settled the English colony of Jamestown, Va. They ate their horses, their pets — and, apparently, at least one person. Scientists say human bones recovered from the site provide the first hard evidence that the colonists may have resorted to cannibalism.

Bones Tell Tale Of Desperation Among The Starving At Jamestown

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