CORAL IN THE RED • VISIONARY SHRIMP • POSSUM VS. POLAR BEAR o '246846" 4 ONE GIANT BABY STEP FOR SCIENCE The most perfectly preserved mammoth ever found reveals new information about life during the ice age. 4 J* *- 2 / WAKING THE BABY MAMMOTH PREMIERES SUNDAY |~| ^M^GEOGRAPHIC ai-.i-.ii »\i nnF APRIL 26 9PP LJ CHANNEL nai APRIL 2009 VOLUME 118 NUMBER 3 www.naturalhistorymag.com FEATURES COVER STORY 24 MEET THE ALLOPARENTS 30 JEWEL OF THE DEEP Shared child care may be Are the modern incarnations the secret of human of age-old traditions selling evolutionary success. Mediterranean red coral out? BY SARAH BLAFFER HRDY BY GEORGIOS TSOUNIS D E PARTM E NTS 2 THE NATURAL MOMENT 36 THIS LAND Viperized Robert H. Mohlenbrock Photograph by Solvin Zankl 38 BOOKSHELF 6 WORD EXCHANGE Laurence A. Marschall 6 nature.net 42 SKYLOG Allergic Reaction Joe Rao Robert Anderson 44 AT THE MUSEUM 10 SAMPLINGS News from Nature 48 ENDPAPER Possum on the Rostrum 14 LIFE ZONE William F. 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