Wild Biology Research

'Zen' bats hit their target by not aiming at it (2/7/2010)

New research conducted at the University of Maryland's bat lab shows Egyptian fruit bats find a target by NOT aiming their guiding sonar directly at it. Instead, they alternately point the sound beam to either side of the target. The new findings by researchers from Maryland and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel suggest that this strategy optimizes the bats' ability to pinpoint the location of a target, but also makes it harder for them to detect a target in the first place. ...> Full Article

Disappearing ducks? (2/6/2010)

The loss of wetlands in the prairie pothole region of central North America due to a warmer and drier climate will negatively affect millions of waterfowl that depend on the region for food, shelter and raising young, according to research published today in the journal BioScience. ...> Full Article

'Peter Pan' apes never seem to learn selfishness (2/6/2010)

Sharing is a behavior on which day care workers and kindergarten teachers tend to offer young humans a lot of coaching. But for our ape cousins the bonobos, sharing just comes naturally. ...> Full Article

Managed wolf populations could restore ecosystems (2/5/2010)

Writing in BioScience, wildlife researchers argue that advances in animal control techniques mean it should be feasible and acceptable to introduce small, managed populations of wolves into a variety of parks and other sites for the purpose of ecosystem restoration. This practice could also increase the public's appreciation of wolves and boost ecotourism. ...> Full Article

'Squeaker' catfish communicate across generations (2/4/2010)

It has been thought that young fish, lacking well-developed hearing organs, could not perceive the sounds made by their larger, older relatives. Now, researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology have used a combined fish tank and sound-proof chamber to show for the first time that catfish of all ages can communicate with one another. ...> Full Article

Seabed biodiversity of the Straits of Magellan and Drake Passage (2/3/2010)

A study of animals visible to the naked eye and living in and on the seabed -- the "macrobenthos" -- of the Straits of Magellan and Drake Passage will help scientists understand the biodiversity, biogeography and ecology of the Magellanic region. ...> Full Article

Trees retaliate when their fig wasps don't service them (2/2/2010)

What happens when a fig wasp lays its eggs but fails to pollinate the fig? The trees get even by dropping those figs to the ground, killing the baby wasps inside. ...> Full Article

Lopsided fish show that symmetry is only skin deep (2/1/2010)

Putting function before form, members of the Perissodinus genus of fish have developed a hugely lopsided jaw that provides a distinct feeding advantage. Research published in the open-access journal BMC Biology describes how these scale-eating fish, called cichlids, develop mouths directed either to the left or the right -- enabling them to feed on the opposite side of their prey. ...> Full Article

Seabirds' movement patterns tied to what fishermen toss away (2/1/2010)

Humans and human activities have clearly altered the Earth's landscape and oceans in countless ways, often to the detriment of other plants and animals. But a new report published online on January 28 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows just what a tangled food web we've woven. ...> Full Article

World's least known bird rediscovered (1/31/2010)

A species of bird, which has only been observed alive on three previous occasions since it was first discovered in 1867, has been rediscovered in a remote land corridor in north-eastern Afghanistan. The discovery was made as part of an international collaboration, which included researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. ...> Full Article

Developmental delay may explain behavior of easygoing ape species (1/31/2010)

New research suggests that evolutionary changes in cognitive development underlie the extensive social and behavioral differences that exist between two closely related species of great apes. The study, published online on Jan. 28 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, enhances our understanding of our two closest living relatives, chimpanzees and the lesser-known bonobos, and may provide key insight into human evolution. ...> Full Article

Monarch butterflies reveal a novel way in which animals sense the Earth's magnetic field (1/30/2010)

Building on prior investigation into the biological mechanisms through which monarch butterflies are able to migrate up to 2,000 miles from eastern North America to a particular forest in Mexico each year, neurobiologists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have linked two related photoreceptor proteins found in butterflies to animal navigation using the Earth's magnetic field. ...> Full Article

Bees recognize human faces using feature configuration (1/30/2010)

Martin Giurfa from the University of Toulouse, France, and Adrian Dyer from Monash University, Australia, have shown that bees can be trained to recognize human faces, so long as the insects are tricked into thinking that the faces are oddly shaped flowers. The insects use the arrangement of facial features to recognize and distinguish one face from another. The Franco-Australian collaboration publishes its discovery on Jan. 29, 2010, in the Journal of Experimental Biology. ...> Full Article

Echolocating bats and whales share molecular mechanism (1/29/2010)

With high-pitched squeaks, clicks and chirps and ultra-sensitive hearing, toothed whales and some bats zero in on prey by emitting pulses of sound and interpreting the echoes that bounce back. ...> Full Article

Study of shark virgin birth shows offspring can survive long term (1/28/2010)

Shark pups born to virgin mothers can survive over the long-term, according to new research published Jan. 25 in the Journal of Heredity. The study shows for the first time that some virgin births can result in viable offspring. ...> Full Article