Wild Biology News - July 2009 Archives

Ants more rational than humans (7/31/2009)

In a study released online on July 22 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, researchers at Arizona State University and Princeton University show that ants can accomplish a task more rationally than our -- multimodal, egg-headed, tool-using, bipedal, opposing-thumbed -- selves. This is not the case of humans being "stupider" than ants. ...> Full Article

Extinction crisis looms in Oceania: Landmark study (7/31/2009)

Governments must act urgently to halt loss of habitats and invading species that are posing major threats to biodiversity and causing species extinctions across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, according to a landmark new study. Published in the international journal Conservation Biology, the report is the first comprehensive review of more than 24,000 scientific publications related to conservation in the Oceanic region. ...> Full Article

German researchers find there is more to bats' vision than meets the eye (7/31/2009)

The eyes of nocturnal bats possess two spectral cone photoreceptor types for daylight and color vision. Reporting in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, July 28, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and the University of Oldenburg have detected cones and their visual pigments in two flower-visiting species of bat. ...> Full Article

Bizarre walking bat has ancient heritage (7/30/2009)

A bizarre New Zealand bat that is as much at home walking four-legged on the ground as winging through the air had an Australian ancestor 20 million years ago with the same rare ability, a new study has found. The discovery overturns a long-held held view that the agile walking and climbing skills of the lesser short-tailed bat evolved in the absence of any ground-dwelling mammal competitors or predators. ...> Full Article

Sichuan earthquake caused significant damage to giant panda habitat (7/30/2009)

When the magnitude 8 Sichuan earthquake struck southern China in May 2008, it left more than 69,000 people dead and 4.3 million homeless. Now ecologists have added to these losses an assessment of the earthquake's impact on biodiversity. In an article in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment e-view, researchers show that more than 23 percent of the pandas' habitat in the study area was destroyed, and fragmentation of remaining habitat could hinder panda reproduction. ...> Full Article

Study sheds light on squirrel psychology (7/29/2009)

The ability of grey squirrels to learn from observing others is highlighted in a new study The research shows how squirrels can quickly learn from watching their peers, particularly if it relates to stealing food. The research adds to growing evidence that animals are primed to learn quickly about what is most important to their survival and that they learn by observing others. It is the first study to test the ability of gray squirrels to learn from observation. ...> Full Article

When the going gets noisy, some birds get going; others thrive (7/29/2009)

Many birds really can't stand a racket. But when the going gets noisy, a few species of birds actually thrive, according to a new report published online on July 23 in Current Biology, a Cell Press journal. ...> Full Article

Researcher sheds light on 'man-eating' squid; finds them timid, non-threatening (7/28/2009)

News reports last week about scuba divers off San Diego being menaced by large numbers of Humboldt's or jumbo squid have raised the ire of University of Rhode Island biologist Brad Seibel. As a leading expert on the species who has dived with them several times, he calls the reports "alarmist" and says the squid's man-eating reputation is seriously overblown. ...> Full Article

Synchronized swimming of algae (7/28/2009)

Striking high-speed footage shows 2 patterns of flagellar coordination ...> Full Article

An 'eye catching' vision discovery (7/28/2009)

Nearly all species have some ability to detect light. At least three types of cells in the retina allow us to see images or distinguish between night and day. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered in fish yet another type of cell that can sense light and contribute to vision. ...> Full Article

Chimps, like humans, focus on faces (7/27/2009)

A chimp's attention is captured by faces more effectively than by bananas. A series of experiments described in BioMed Central's open-access journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests that the apes are wired to respond to faces in a similar manner to humans. ...> Full Article

Human-dog communication - breed as important as species (7/27/2009)

Dog breeds selected to work in visual contact with humans, such as sheep dogs and gun dogs, are better able to comprehend a pointing gesture than those breeds that usually work without direct supervision. A series of tests, described in BioMed Central's open-access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, should caution researchers against making simple generalizations about the effects of domestication and on dog-wolf differences in the utilization of human visual signals. ...> Full Article

AIDS discovered in wild chimpanzees (7/26/2009)

A new study from an international team, including University of Minnesota professors Anne Pusey and Michael Wilson, shows that chimpanzees infected with SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), the precursor to HIV-1, do contract and die from AIDS. ...> Full Article

New discovery suggests trees evolved camouflage defense against long extinct predator (7/25/2009)

A study of trees in New Zealand has provided the first evidence of an evolved camouflage defense strategy in plants. ...> Full Article

For horned lizard, horns alone do not make the species (7/24/2009)

California's horned lizard is 3 species, based on genetics, morphology and ecology ...> Full Article

Scientists report first remote, underwater detection of harmful algae, toxins (7/23/2009)

Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have successfully conducted the first remote detection of a harmful algal species and its toxin below the ocean's surface. The achievement was recently reported in the June issue of Oceanography. ...> Full Article

Wolf reintroduction proposed in Scottish Highland test case (7/22/2009)

Researchers are proposing in a new report that a major experiment be conducted to reintroduce wolves to a test site in the Scottish Highlands, to help control the populations and behavior of red deer that in the past 250 years have changed the whole nature of large ecosystems. ...> Full Article

A global model for the origin of species independent of geographical isolation (7/21/2009)

A modern approach to the formation of diverse species is developed without boundaries and ecosystem niches ...> Full Article

Study reveals sandfish tucks legs and swims like a snake through desert sand (7/20/2009)

A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion like snakes to propel themselves through granular media. ...> Full Article

Neon blue-tailed tree lizard glides like a feather (7/19/2009)

Neon blue-tailed tree lizards are perfectly happy scurrying from branch to branch in their arboreal homes, but it wasn't clear whether they simply leaping between branches or glide. Bieke Vanhooydonck and colleagues compared the tree lizards' jumps with common wall lizards' and gliding geckos' leaps, and found that the tree lizards glide because they are incredibly light. Their bones are packed with tiny air bubbles that make them feather light. ...> Full Article

Energetic bottleneck factors in catastrophic winter seabird losses (7/18/2009)

Every winter, thousands of seabirds are washed up on shore having perished in unexplained "winter wrecks." To find out why so many seabirds die, Jérôme Fort, Warren Porter and David Grémillet calculated the energy requirements of auks and Brünnich's guillemots and found that the birds may not be able to eat enough to survive the North Atlantic's harsh winter conditions. ...> Full Article

Research shows that 'invisible hand' guides evolution of cooperative turn-taking (7/15/2009)

There's more to taking your turn than simply good manners ...> Full Article

Reintroduced Chinese alligators now multiplying in the wild in China (7/15/2009)

The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today that critically endangered alligators in China have a new chance for survival. The WCS's Bronx Zoo, in partnership with two other North American parks and the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Management of the State Forestry Administration of China, has successfully reintroduced alligators into the wild that are now multiplying on their own. ...> Full Article

New theory on why male, female lemurs same size (7/15/2009)

Rice University biologists are offering a new theory for the long-standing mystery of why male lemurs are no larger than females. Featured on the cover of this month's Journal of Evolutionary Biology, the theory posits that male lemurs guard their mates just like other primates. But whereas evolution favors larger males in gorillas and other species that guard females by fighting, lemurs have evolved to passively guard their mates. ...> Full Article

House cats know what they want and how to get it from you (7/14/2009)

Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don't already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. ...> Full Article

World's largest ocean observatory takes shape (7/12/2009)

Complex installation process is now underway at sea ...> Full Article

Spread your sperm the smart way (7/11/2009)

Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximize their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new paper on the evolution of ejaculation strategies. The findings by researchers at University College London and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones. ...> Full Article

Male seahorses like big mates (7/10/2009)

Study suggests male seahorses select partners based on their body size ...> Full Article

Mystery of bat with an extraordinary nose solved (7/10/2009)

Soon to be published research explains a 60-year mystery behind a rare bat's nose that is unusually large for its species. Bourret's horseshoe bat uses its elongated nose to create a highly focused sonar beam. ...> Full Article

Battle of the sexes benefits offspring, says research (7/9/2009)

Parents compensate for a lazy partner by working harder to bring up their offspring, but not enough to completely make up for the lack of parenting, says research by bird biologists at the University of Bath. ...> Full Article

New monkey discovered in Brazil (7/8/2009)

Monkey is threatened by proposed dams and other development in region ...> Full Article

Scientists are learning more about big birds from feathers (7/8/2009)

Catching adult eagles for research purposes is no easy task, but a Purdue University researcher has found a way around the problem, and, in the process, gathered even more information about the birds without ever laying a hand on one. ...> Full Article

Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep (7/7/2009)

Milder winters are causing Scotland's wild breed of Soay sheep to get smaller, despite the evolutionary benefits of possessing a large body, according to new research due to be published in this week's Science Express. ...> Full Article

All in sight (7/6/2009)

A new measurement system for the detection of whales is used for the first time on board of the research vessel Polarstern. Visual sightings of whales by marine mammal observers are usually based on observations of the spout, the condensing and warm breathing cloud. It rises between one meter and ten meters over the water surface and remains visible for only a few seconds. A thermal imaging camera now uses the heat of this spout. ...> Full Article

Inbred bumblebees less successful (7/6/2009)

Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have provided the first proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the production of reproductively inefficient 'diploid' males. ...> Full Article

A young brain for an old bee (7/5/2009)

Scientists have found that by switching the social role of honey bees, aging honey bees can keep their learning ability intact or even improve it. The research team is hoping to use them as a model to study general aging processes in the brain and how to prevent or ameliorate cognitive impairments associated with old age. The results will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Meeting on Wednesday, July 1. ...> Full Article

Evolution: Crabs go deep to avoid hot water (7/5/2009)

Researchers from the National Oceanography Center, Southampton, have drawn together 200 years' worth of oceanographic knowledge to investigate the distribution of a notorious deep-sea giant -- the king crab. The results, published this week in the Journal of Biogeography, reveal temperature as a driving force behind the speciation and radiation of a major seafloor predator -- globally, and over tens of millions of years of Earth's history. ...> Full Article

A bird's eye view of art (7/4/2009)

Pigeons judge the beauty of art as humans do - by using both color and pattern cues ...> Full Article

Scientists find a biological 'fountain of youth' in new world bat caves (7/3/2009)

Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history -- significantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of the FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice. ...> Full Article

Researchers survey Mid-Atlantic ridge looking for new life forms, clues to deep-sea communities (7/3/2009)

An international team of researchers is surveying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge halfway between Iceland and the Azores to determine its biodiversity and perhaps discover new species and clues to deep-sea food webs. The project is part of a 16-nation effort to determine if the underwater mountain chain in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has its own distinct animal communities. ...> Full Article

Key to evolutionary fitness: Cut the calories (7/3/2009)

Charles Darwin postulated that animals eat as much as possible while food is plentiful, and produce as many offspring as this would allow. However, new research shows that, even when food is abundant, intake reaches a limit. Dr. Teresa Valencak will discuss the theory that animals actively limit their energy turnover to maintain a higher level of reproductive success over their lifetime at the Society for Experimental Biology Meeting on Wednesday, July 1. ...> Full Article

Birds with a nose for a difference (7/2/2009)

Avoidance of inbreeding is evident among humans, and has been demonstrated in some shorebirds, mice and sand lizards. Researchers writing in the open-access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology now report that it also occurs in a strictly monogamous species of bird, suggesting that the black-legged kittiwake possesses the ability to choose partners with a very different genetic profile. ...> Full Article

Straighten up and fly right: Moths benefit more from flexible wings than rigid (7/1/2009)

New research using high-speed digital imaging shows that, at least for some insects, wings that flex and deform, something like what happens to a heavy beach towel when you snap it to get rid of the sand, are the best for staying aloft. ...> Full Article

Two is not company -- as far as fish are concerned (7/1/2009)

Research at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter has shown that fish kept alone or in small groups are more aggressive and exhibit fewer natural behaviors such as shoaling. Dr Katherine Sloman will discuss the findings and their implications for welfare guidelines for aquarium fish at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday June 29. ...> Full Article

The faster they come (7/1/2009)

In many animal species stable hierarchies are routinely formed in which some individuals seem to slip naturally into their dominant role whereas others resign themselves to play the part of lowly subordinates. Researchers will present their findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Sunday, June 28, where they discuss why subordinates embrace this fate so readily instead of putting up a fight. ...> Full Article