Editor’s Note

‘Symbiosis’—a close relationship between two organisms—is a recurring theme throughout this issue. In ‘Beautiful Bats’, we learn how bats do us a favour by preying on pesky bugs and pollinating important fruit crops. Pollination also features in ‘Figs: Friends and Foes’, as an example of a ‘mutualistic’ symbiosis— one that is beneficial to both species. But figs also have a dark side, which is explored in the second half of the article. Like figs, humans have complicated relationships with the creatures around us; this is examined in both ‘The Pangolin Protector’ and ‘A Day in the Life of an Irula Snake Catcher’.

There are a few human-animal interactions celebrated as those between people and their pet dogs—a prime example of which is the focus of the book The Chronicles of Chitty, glowingly reviewed here. Each of these pieces invites us to consider what symbiotic relationships can teach us about ourselves and our role in nature. This is perhaps most evident in ‘Aliens on Earth’, which asks what we could achieve if humans used their knowledge of tardigrades—and other fascinating species—to improve our lives and those of the countless organisms with whom we share the planet.

– Caitlin Kight and Payal Bal