Scientists have known for a while that the average head size of a shrew community will be smaller in spring than it was the previous fall. Sure, one possibility was that shrews were shrinking their own damn heads (please please let that be it). But it was probably more likely that big-headed shrews, who naturally need more calories to support their XXL lifestyle, were dying off in winter.
Well guess what. A new study proved pretty definitively that shrew heads get bigger and smaller with the seasons, giving them a better chance of surviving times of scarcity and giving me the chance to cram a bunch of dumb puns into this story for the Times.
Douglas Quenqua 