Wild Biology News - August 2009 Archives

Professor discovers new species of marine life (8/31/2009)

Two tiny worms much smaller than a rice grain and a strange crustacean that has no eyes and poisonous fangs are among several new species of marine life discovered in an underwater cave by a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher, who has had one of the new species named after him. ...> Full Article

'Curtain twitching' skylarks keep track of strangers through their songs (8/30/2009)

Skylarks can hear the difference between friendly neighbors and dangerous strangers, and deal with any threatening intruders, says new research by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.Male skylarks learn to recognize local dialects in their neighbors' individual songs, remember where each neighbor is supposed to be and reprimand intruders who don't belong in the neighborhood, according to a study carried out by Dr. Elodie Briefer, a postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. ...> Full Article

Ant has given up sex completely, report Texas researchers (8/29/2009)

The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers. ...> Full Article

Bats use love songs during mating, researchers say (8/28/2009)

Love songs aren't only for soft rock FM stations -- they're also used by romantic bats, and researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin are believed to be the first to decode the mysterious love sounds made by the winged creatures. Their work is published in the current issue of PLoS ONE. ...> Full Article

Rats' mental 'instant replay' drives next moves (8/27/2009)

Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that rats use a mental instant replay of their actions to help them decide what to do next, shedding new light on how animals and humans learn and remember. ...> Full Article

Bats without borders: World's largest bats need international protection (8/27/2009)

Scientists writing in the latest issue of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology warn that the world's largest species of fruit bat, known as the "large flying fox," could be driven to extinction in Peninsular Malaysia at the current hunting rate allowed of around 22,000 every year. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover new species of crustacean on Lanzarote (8/27/2009)

Diving expedition in lava tube finds remarkable new specimens ...> Full Article

Scientists shed new light on behavior of shark 'tweens' and 'teenagers' (8/26/2009)

Study may prove useful in conservation efforts for over-fished sharks ...> Full Article

Cool new tools let public contribute to massive interactive online biodiversity encyclopedia (8/25/2009)

EOL's inventory of Earth's species -- now 150,000 pages of vetted information, en route to 1.8 million, is shedding light on everything from conservation strategies for endangered species to human longevity and climate change. It will also help slow the spread of disease-bearing or invasive pests. ...> Full Article

Aphids saved from gruesome death by virus-infected bacteria (8/24/2009)

The term "beneficial virus" sounds like an oxymoron. But pea aphids whose symbiotic bacteria have viral infections gain protection against parasitic wasps. Aphids without the infected bacteria were eaten alive from the inside out by wasp larvae. The research is the first demonstration that a virus that infects bacteria can help rather than harm the bacteria's animal host, according to a report to be published in the journal Science. ...> Full Article

At the fungal farmer's market, only the best cyanobacteria are for sale (8/23/2009)

Lichen study has implications for ecosystem research ...> Full Article

Young Arctic muskoxen better at keeping warm than scientists thought (8/21/2009)

A new study finds that young muskoxen conserve heat almost as well as adults, a finding that runs contrary to a longstanding assumption among scientists that young animals should be more vulnerable in extreme cold. ...> Full Article

Honey-bee aggression study suggests nurture alters nature (8/20/2009)

A new study of honey bees lends support to the idea that nurture (an organism's environment) may ultimately influence nature (it's genetic inheritance). ...> Full Article

Imitation promotes social bonding in primates (8/19/2009)

Capuchin monkeys predisposed toward individuals who imitate them ...> Full Article

Orchids and fungi - partners for life (8/18/2009)

Three Thai orchids have been found to rely on a wide range of fungi to help them take carbon out of the soil instead of producing their own organic carbon. A detailed study of the relationship, published in the open access journal BMC Biology, also features stunning pictures of the plants. ...> Full Article

Ground beetles produce lemon/orange-scented aromas as predator repellents, according to new research (8/17/2009)

In a paper to appear in the journal Naturwissenschaften, Stevens Institute of Technology Professor Athula Attygalle and his research student, Xiaogang Wu, report for the first time that some ground beetles produce the natural repellent limonene as their major defensive chemical. ...> Full Article

Parasite causes zombie ants to die in an ideal spot (8/16/2009)

A study in the September issue of the American Naturalist describes new details about a fungal parasite that coerces ants into dying in just the right spot -- one that is ideal for the fungus to grow and reproduce. The study, led David P. Hughes of Harvard University, shows just how precisely the fungus manipulates the behavior of its hapless hosts. ...> Full Article

Scientists demonstrate importance of niche differences in biodiversity (8/15/2009)

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have found strong evidence that niche differences are critical to biodiversity. Their findings are published online in this week's issue of the journal Nature. ...> Full Article

Study finds migratory birds not picky about their rest stops (8/14/2009)

If a lush, protected forest with a winding stream is considered luxury accommodation for a migratory bird, a Purdue University study shows that those birds would be just as happy with the equivalent of a cheap roadside motel. ...> Full Article

Renowned canine researcher puts dogs' intelligence on par with 2-year-old human (8/10/2009)

Although you wouldn't want one to balance your checkbook, dogs can count. They can also understand more than 150 words, and intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats, according to psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, Ph.D., of the University of British Columbia. He spoke Saturday on the topic "How Dogs Think" at the American Psychological Association's 117th Annual Convention. ...> Full Article

Aesop's fable 'the crow and the pitcher' more fact than fiction (8/9/2009)

New research indicates that rooks, members of the crow family, are able to solve complex problems using tools ...> Full Article

New orchid deception found: wearing the scent of hornet's prey (8/8/2009)

Orchids are famous for their deceptions. Most of those with nothing of value to offer their pollinators lure them instead with the scents of more rewarding flowers or potential mates. Now, a report published online on Aug. 6 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveals for the first time that a species of orchid, which lives on the Chinese island of Hainan, fools its hornet pollinator by issuing a chemical that honeybees use to send an alarm. ...> Full Article

Venomous sea snakes play heads or tails with their predators (8/7/2009)

A new discovery reveals how venomous sea snakes deceive their predators into believing they have two heads. ...> Full Article

Thinking crickets - 'cognitive' processes underlie memory recall in crickets (8/6/2009)

Activation of two different kinds of neurons is necessary for appetitive and aversive memory recall in crickets. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology blocked octopaminergic (OA-ergic) and dopaminergic (DA-ergic) transmission and found that this resulted in the inability to recall pleasant and unpleasant memories, respectively. ...> Full Article

Large trees declining in Yosemite (8/5/2009)

Large trees have declined in Yosemite National Park during the 20th century, and warmer climate conditions may play a role. The number of large-diameter trees in the park declined 24 percent between the 1930s and 1990s. USGS and University of Washington scientists compared the earliest records of large-diameter trees densities from 1932-1936 to the most recent records from 1988-1999. ...> Full Article

Human language and dolphin movement patterns show similarities in brevity (8/4/2009)

Two researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom have shown for the first time that the law of brevity in human language, according to which the most frequently-used words tend to be the shortest, also extends to other animal species. The scientists have shown that dolphins are more likely to make simpler movements at the water surface. ...> Full Article

Bizarre bald bird discovered (8/3/2009)

An odd songbird with a bald head living in a rugged region in Laos has been discovered by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and University of Melbourne. ...> Full Article

Disease threat may change how frogs mate (8/2/2009)

Dr. Amber Teacher, studying a post-doctorate at Royal Holloway, University of London, has discovered evidence that a disease may be causing a behavioral change in frogs. The research, published in the August edition of Molecular Ecology, has unearthed a surprising fact about our long-tongued friends: wild frogs in the UK may be changing their mating behavior. ...> Full Article

Naming evolution's winners and losers (8/2/2009)

Mammals, birds show rich species diversity; alligators not so much ...> Full Article

Warmer environment means shorter lives for cold-blooded animals (8/1/2009)

Temperature explains much of why cold-blooded organisms such as fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and lizards live longer at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online. ...> Full Article

Biologists rediscover endangered frog population (8/1/2009)

For the first time in nearly 50 years, a population of a nearly extinct frog has been rediscovered in the San Bernardino National Forest's San Jacinto Wilderness. Biologists from the US Geological Survey assessing suitability of sites to re-establish frogs and scientists from the San Diego Natural History Museum retracing a 1908 natural history expedition both rediscovered the rare mountain yellow-legged frog in the San Jacinto Wilderness near Idyllwild, Calif. ...> Full Article

Orangutans unique in movement through tree tops (8/1/2009)

Scientists at the Universities of Liverpool and Birmingham have found that orangutans move through the canopy of tropical forests in a completely different way to all other tree-dwelling primates. ...> Full Article