Nature’s Chefs, Dinosaur Drumsticks and Turkey Trots

At the end of the year, many of our holiday celebrations revolve around food, such as a Thanksgiving feast or a Christmas dinner. This food-intensive season reminds me of a new concept in nature studies: “nature’s chefs.” In essence, nature’s chefs are organisms that provide food—or the illusion of food—to other organisms. On the surface, this concept looks quite simple, but, in reality, it offers a whole, new perspective on species interactions.

Of course, the aftermath of any food-centric celebration will involve some food waste. And now, researchers are finding extraordinary, new uses for what we throw away. For example, beet pulp may help crops resist disease, while composted coconut fibers could replace peat moss. Discarded beet and radish greens are rich in bioactive compounds that boost gut health and protect cells. Food waste is rapidly becoming a source of sustainable solutions for both agriculture and our health.

To work off some of those extra calories before or after your Thanksgiving meal, your local community probably has some sort of “turkey trot,” a long-distance footrace named for the use of the turkey as a common centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinners in the United States. But do real turkeys trot? Yes, they do. In fact, wild turkeys are capable of running, strutting and trotting, and fibular (the fibula is the outer and usually smaller of the two bones between the knee and ankle in the hind or lower limbs of vertebrates) reduction among some dinosaurs tens of millions of years ago helped to make it possible.

Nature’s chefs: using food-making to understand species interactions

There are many ways of classifying species interactions, say ecologists at North Carolina State University, who led a study published in the journal BioScience in June 2023. Mutualists interact with other species to both of their benefit. Parasites rely on other species, but the other species doesn’t benefit. Predators devour other species. But the nature’s chefs concept spans members of all of these groups, with the common factor being that the relevant interactions all rely on food—or the lure of food.

The genesis of the idea for nature’s chefs occurred at an interdisciplinary gathering several years ago when, in response to an explanation of the evolution of fruits, a chef uttered, “You mean to say, fruits are nature’s chefs.” This seed of an idea led some scientists to review and synthesize what is known about food preparation and sharing across the animal, fungal and plant kingdoms. The research team ultimately outlined three ways that species can produce or prepare food for other organisms: as drinks, as foods or as food-like lures.

Nature’s chefs sometimes prepare food for other organisms of the same species, such as the nuptial food gifts that some species use to attract mates. For example, male cockroaches prepare a nuptial food gift for females that constitutes an important nitrogen source for the female and her eggs. Nature’s chefs may also prepare food for organisms of different species, such as the fruit many plants produce to attract animals to disperse their seeds.

It’s also worth noting, say the ecologists, that nature’s chefs include humans, and there are striking similarities between human and nonhuman chefs. For example, human chefs use the attractive plating of food or billboards to attract diners, whereas evolutionary processes have led plants to use flowers as an advertisement for their nectar.

The nature’s chefs concept also distinguishes between organisms that produce “honest meals” versus organisms that produce “deceptive meals,” such as lures or food mimics. Fruit is a good example of an honest meal: animals (including humans) are able to consume and benefit from the sweet or starchy fleshy material surrounding the seed. Plants, meanwhile, benefit when animals consume or defecate seeds away from parent plants, thereby reducing competition, inbreeding, parasitism and predation that can be higher near the parent plants.

Snapping turtles, on the other hand, are an example of a species that uses food mimics to deceive would-be diners. The tongue of the snapping turtle has an appendage that closely resembles an aquatic worm. The fake worm attracts organisms that eat worms to the snapping turtle’s mouth, making them prey for the turtle. In the context of nature’s chefs, this is a predator-prey interaction influenced by one species, the chef, preparing a deceptive meal to obtain its food.

Discussions among the North Carolina State University research team members from disparate disciplines led to several discoveries that reinforced the concept of nature’s chefs, especially regarding similarities to human chefs. For example, chefs and ecologists were fascinated by the fact that both human and nonhuman chefs change the viscosity of liquids and alter the density of foods to appeal to different diners.

The scientists hope that the nature’s chefs concept will stimulate further discussion and learning; and they identified several research questions to explore in the future, such as how does the availability of local or seasonal ingredients affect the behavior of nature’s chefs? We know that humans warm food as part of meal preparation. Do fungi and plants, as well? Why are there so few fruits that smell or taste like meat?

In conclusion, the university researchers say that the nature’s chefs concept provides yet another way to organize our spectacularly diverse world.

Food waste: finding the hidden “gold”

Food waste can be far more valuable than a pile of scraps left behind after a meal. Scientists are uncovering surprising ways to turn discarded materials—from dried beet pulp to coconut fibers processed by millipedes—into useful resources. In four new studies published in American Chemical Society (ACS) journals, researchers reveal how food waste can offer eco-friendly tools for agriculture and new sources of beneficial compounds for medicines:

1. Sugar by-products may “beet” wheat disease. In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in September 2025, researchers found that sugar beet pulp could help farmers cut down on synthetic pesticide use. This leftover pulp, which makes up about 80% of the beet after sugar extraction, was transformed into carbohydrates that trigger plants’ natural immune responses. When tested on wheat, these compounds helped protect against fungal infections, such as powdery mildew.

2. Composted coconuts help seedlings grow. Coconut fibers broken down by millipedes may serve as a sustainable replacement for peat moss, a material commonly used to start seedlings but often sourced from fragile wetland ecosystems. A study published in the journal ACS Omega in September 2025 explored this “millicompost” and found that, when combined with other plant materials, it supported the healthy growth of bell pepper seedlings as effectively as traditional peat-based mixes.

3. Radish leaves support gut health. In a review that was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in September 2025, researchers in Korea suggested that the often-discarded tops of radishes could be more nutritious than the roots themselves. These peppery greens contain abundant fiber and bioactive compounds, including antioxidants and polysaccharides. In animal and lab studies, the radish greens promoted the growth of beneficial gut microbes, hinting that they might also boost digestive health in humans.

4. Beet greens supply bioactive ingredients. Research described in the journal ACS Engineering Au in September 2025 outlines a way to preserve the powerful compounds extracted from beet leaves for use in cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals. Scientists created microparticles by drying a mixture of antioxidant-rich, beet-green extract with an edible biopolymer. The resulting encapsulated particles not only remained stable but also showed greater antioxidant activity than the uncoated extract, suggesting that this process helps protect the bioactive ingredients from degradation.

Turkey trot: looking at dinosaur drumsticks

Rather than looking at wings when studying the connection between dinosaurs and birds, say scientists at Connecticut’s Yale University Department of Earth and Planetary Science, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and the Yale Peabody Museum, we should examine drumsticks, like the ones we eat on Thanksgiving.

That’s because under the meat of a drumstick, there are two bones—the tibia, which is long and thick; and the fibula, which is much shorter and thinner. This abbreviated fibula is what allows birds to twist and turn around when they’re not in flight. And to understand this bone’s evolutionary story, we must look at dinosaurs.

The fibula is often neglected in the study of vertebrate form and function, often viewed as merely a small remnant of a once-larger, physiological feature. The idea that the shortened fibula has a distinct evolutionary benefit was relatively unexplored—until now.

For a study published in the journal Nature in November 2024, the Yale University researchers used X-ray videos of a present-day bird—a helmeted guinea fowl—to precisely measure the knee-joint poses of the bird. Using cutting-edge computer animation software, they combined the videos with 3D models to visualize how the bird’s bone surfaces fit together geometrically and how those joints appear in motion. They also collected X-ray videos from an alligator and an iguana, and examined the shapes of leg bones in other birds, including a crane, an ostrich, an owl and a penguin.

The researchers found that in birds, the tibial joint surfaces have curved arcs, and the shortened fibula is able to roll within the bird’s drumstick for about its length relative to the tibia. Taken together, these features enable the knee bones to maintain smooth contact, even when the joint twists by more than 100 degrees. In other words, the fibulas of birds are moving completely differently from that of other living reptiles. It’s why the knees of birds are uniquely able to spin, allowing them to navigate their world more effectively. They use that mobility to turn and maneuver on the ground, but it’s suspected that they’re also using it in mating displays, prey gathering and moving about in tree branches.

Next, the researchers searched for the evolutionary origins of the shortened fibula in birds and found their answer in certain species of dinosaurs. While many dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex, had straightened tibial surfaces and stiffened drumsticks that only allowed for hinge-like knees, certain avian ancestors, including Rahonavis ostromi and Ichthyornis dispar, showed indications of curved tibial surfaces and a shortened, thinner fibula that was free to move on its own. In fact, say the Yale researchers, the very features that appeared in early dinosaurs to stiffen the leg ended up being co-opted in birds and their close relatives to mobilize the knee joint in a unique and extreme way. Over and over again, they state, we see that evolution operates by repurposing existing structures and functions, often in surprising and unpredictable ways.

Natural interactions: consuming food

Food and nature are deeply interconnected: nature provides the resources for food production, while the way animals (including humans) produce and consume food significantly impacts natural systems, such as biodiversity, lands and waters. And how various animals interact with and use food can determine the relationships between them.

The production and consumption of food—including eating our Thanksgiving meals—generates waste. But today, luckily, much of that natural waste can be transformed into beneficial products. And that great icon of Thanksgiving, the turkey drumstick, can reveal nature’s connections between dinosaurs and birds.

As nature provides the foundation for plants to grow and animals to live, food is intrinsically connected to the environment. It’s a thought worth remembering during all those hearty, winter meals will soon be sharing with family and friends.

Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,

Candy