Plant poison turns seed-eating mouse into seed spitter
Thursday, June 14, 2012 - 15:30
in Biology & Nature
In Israel's Negev Desert, a plant called sweet mignonette or taily weed uses a toxic "mustard oil bomb" to make the spiny mouse spit out the plant's seeds when eating the fruit. Thus, the plant has turned a seed-eating rodent into a seed spreader that helps the plant reproduce, says a new study.