If I offered you the chance to hear a talk on parasites, I’m guessing you might decline. But only if you hadn’t met science writer Ed Yong. Here’s how he opened his talk. A herd of wildebeests, a shoal of fish, a flock of birds. Many animals gather in large groups that are among the most wonderful spectacles in the natural world. But why do these groups form? The common answers include things like seeking safety in numbers or hunting in packs or gathering to mate or breed, and all of these explanations, while often true, make a huge assumption about animal behavior, that the animals are in
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