Wild Biology News - October 2009 Archives

When ants attack: Researchers recreate chemicals that trigger aggression in Argentine ants (10/31/2009)

Researchers have identified and synthesized the chemical cues by which Argentine ants distinguish colony-mates from rivals. By exploiting these chemicals, researchers have demonstrated that normally friendly Argentine ants can turn against each other and fight. ...> Full Article

Whales are polite conversationalists (10/30/2009)

What do a West African drummer and a sperm whale have in common? According to some reports, they can both spot rhythms in the chatter of an ocean crowded with the calls of marine mammals -- a feat impossible for the untrained human ear. ...> Full Article

First evidence for a second breeding season among migratory songbirds (10/29/2009)

Biologists for the first time have documented a second breeding season during the annual cycle of five songbird species that spend summers in temperate North America and winters in tropical Central and South America. ...> Full Article

Wolves lose their predatory edge in mid-life (10/28/2009)

Although most wolves in Yellowstone National Park live to be nearly six years old, their ability to kill prey peaks when they are two to three, according to a study led by Dan MacNulty and recently published online by Ecology Letters. ...> Full Article

French male bears in immediate need of more females (10/28/2009)

The population of brown bears in France is now so small that the species might become extinct in the near future. However, there is new hope in the form of new research published Oct. 28 in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, which suggests that relocating new bears doesn't just boost the population size but can also reverse some of the causes of the population decline. ...> Full Article

New evidence of culture in wild chimpanzees (10/27/2009)

A new study of chimpanzees living in the wild adds to evidence that our closest primate relatives have cultural differences, too. The study, reported online on Oct. 22 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows that neighboring chimpanzee populations in Uganda use different tools to solve a novel problem: extracting honey trapped within a fallen log. ...> Full Article

Male Australian redback spiders employ courtship strategies to preserve their life (10/26/2009)

New research shows that male suitors of a female cannibalistic spider risk facing a premature death unless they perform an adequate courtship lasting a minimum of 100 minutes. Further, the research shows that "sneaker" males can slip by and mate successfully on the courtship efforts of the hard-working first suitor. ...> Full Article

Iberian wolves prefer wild roe deer to domestic animals (10/26/2009)

A Spanish researcher has analyzed the preferences of wolves from the north east of the Iberian Peninsula to demonstrate that, in reality, their favorite prey are roe deer, deer and wild boar, ahead of domestic ruminants (sheep, goats, cows and horses). ...> Full Article

The white stuff: Marine lab team seeks to understand coral bleaching (10/25/2009)

With technology similar to that used by physicians to perform magnetic resonance imaging scans, researchers from six institutions -- including the National Institute of Standards and Technology -- working at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., are studying the metabolic activity of a pathogen shown to cause coral bleaching, a serious threat to undersea reef ecosystems worldwide. ...> Full Article

Hearing on the wing: New structure discovered in butterfly ears (10/24/2009)

A clever structure in the ear of a tropical butterfly that potentially makes it able to distinguish between high and low pitch sounds has been discovered by scientists from the University of Bristol, UK. ...> Full Article

The lotus's clever way of staying dry (10/23/2009)

Scientists finally understand how the plant keeps itself clean and dry. It took an ultra high speed camera, a powerful microscope and an audio speaker to unlock a secret that has puzzled scientists for ages. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover largest orb-weaving spider (10/23/2009)

Researchers have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar. They also reconstructed size evolution in the family Nephilidae to show that this new species, on average, is the largest orb weaver known. Only the females are giants with a body length of 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) and a leg span of 4-5 inches (10-12 centimeters); the males are tiny by comparison. ...> Full Article

It takes 2 to tutor a sparrow (10/22/2009)

It may take a village to raise a child, and apparently it takes at least two adult birds to teach a young song sparrow how and what to sing. ...> Full Article

Killer algae a key player in mass extinctions (10/21/2009)

Supervolcanoes and cosmic impacts get all the terrible glory for causing mass extinctions, but a new theory suggests lowly algae may be the killer behind the world's great species annihilations. ...> Full Article

Fish vision discovery makes waves in natural selection (10/20/2009)

Emory University researchers have identified the first fish known to have switched from ultraviolet vision to violet vision, or the ability to see blue light. The discovery is also the first example of an animal deleting a molecule to change its visual spectrum. ...> Full Article

Migratory route of Eleonora's falcon revealed for first time (10/19/2009)

Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometres across the African continent from the Balearic and Columbretes Islands before reaching the island of Madagascar. Some of the previously-obscure secrets now revealed by the scientists show that these falcons migrate by both day and night, and cross supposed ecological barriers such as the Sahara Desert. ...> Full Article

Being a standout has its benefits, study shows (10/18/2009)

Standing out in a crowd is better than blending in, at least if you're a paper wasp in a colony where fights between nest-mates determine social status. ...> Full Article

Do 3 meals a day keep fungi away? (10/17/2009)

The fact that they eat a lot -- and often -- may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, according to research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. ...> Full Article

Chimpanzees help each other on request but not voluntarily (10/16/2009)

The evolution of altruism has long puzzled researchers and has mainly been explained previously from ultimate perspectives. However, a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE by researchers at the Primate Research Institute and the Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University shows that chimpanzees altruistically help conspecifics, even in the absence of direct personal gain or immediate reciprocation, although the chimpanzees were much more likely to help each other upon request than voluntarily. ...> Full Article

Long feared extinct, rare bird rediscovered (10/15/2009)

Known to science only by two century-old specimens, a critically endangered crow has re-emerged on a remote, mountainous Indonesian island thanks in part to a Michigan State University scientist. The Banggai Crow will be listed now in the latest edition of an influential ornithology handbook. ...> Full Article

Herbivory discovered in a spider (10/14/2009)

There are approximately 40,000 species of spiders in the world, all of which have been thought to be strict predators that feed on insects or other animals. Now, scientists have found that a small Central American jumping spider has a uniquely different diet: the species Bagheera kiplingi feeds predominantly on plant food. ...> Full Article

No place like home: Africa's big cats show postcode preference (10/13/2009)

The secret lives of some of Africa's iconic carnivores, including big cats, are revealed in a new study in the journal, Animal Conservation. ...> Full Article

Rhesus macaque moms 'go gaga' for baby, too (10/12/2009)

The intense exchanges that human mothers share with their newborn infants may have some pretty deep roots, suggests a study of rhesus macaques reported online on October 8 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. ...> Full Article

Loyal alligators display the mating habits of birds (10/11/2009)

Research published in Molecular Ecology reveals that alligators display the same loyalty to their mates as birds, a discovery which may give a better understanding of dinosaur mating. ...> Full Article

Albatross camera reveals fascinating feeding interaction with killer whale (10/10/2009)

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, Japan, have recorded the first observations of how albatrosses feed alongside marine mammals at sea. ...> Full Article

Homebound termites answer 150-year-old evolution question (10/9/2009)

Evolution of sterility potentially explained among social insects ...> Full Article

Panama butterfly migrations linked to El Niño, climate change (10/8/2009)

A 16-year study of tropical butterfly migration links a global climate pattern, El Niño, to local increases in plant production and peak migrations. ...> Full Article

7 new luminescent mushroom species discovered (10/7/2009)

Seven new glow-in-the-dark mushroom species have been discovered, increasing the number of known luminescent fungi species from 64 to 71. Reported today in the journal Mycologia, the new finds include two new species named after movements in Mozart's Requiem. The discoveries also shed light on the evolution of luminescence, adding to the number of known lineages in the fungi "family tree" where luminescence has been reported. ...> Full Article

Black rat does not bother Mediterranean seabirds (10/6/2009)

Human activities have meant invasive species have been able to populate parts of the world to which they are not native and alter biodiversity there over thousands of years. Now, an international team of scientists has studied the impact of the black rat on bird populations on Mediterranean islands. Despite the rat's environmental impact, only the tiny European storm petrel has been affected over time by its enforced cohabitation with the rat. ...> Full Article

In amoeba world, cheating doesn't pay (10/5/2009)

Researchers from Rice University and the Baylor College of Medicine are peeling back the layers of strategy that determine how colonies of social amoebas resist the efforts of cheaters to alter the balance of power. ...> Full Article

Mystery solved: Marine microbe is source of rare nutrient (10/5/2009)

A new study of microscopic marine microbes, called phytoplankton, by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of South Carolina has solved a 10-year-old mystery about the source of an essential nutrient in the ocean. ...> Full Article

Loss of top predators causing surge in smaller predators, ecosystem collapse (10/4/2009)

The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes. ...> Full Article

Juvenile bluefin tunas can dive to depths of more than 1,000 meters (10/4/2009)

A bluefin tuna, tagged by AZTI-Tecnalia in August 2008, 15 miles to the north of Donostia-San Sebastián on recreational trolling vessel was caught a year later by a professional bait boat 88 miles north of Bakio. The animal had internally implanted electronic tag which enabled its migratory movements and the depth of these, amongst other data, to be obtained. ...> Full Article

Coral bleaching increases chances of coral disease (10/3/2009)

Mass coral bleaching has devastated coral colonies around the world for almost three decades. Now scientists have found that bleaching can make corals more susceptible to disease and, in turn, coral disease can exacerbate the negative effects of bleaching. A paper in the October issue of the journal Ecology shows that when they occur together, this combination of afflictions causes greater harm to corals than either does on its own. ...> Full Article

Scientists find successful way to reduce bat deaths at wind turbines (10/2/2009)

Scientists at the University of Calgary have found a way to reduce bat deaths from wind turbines by up to 60 percent without significantly reducing the energy generated from the wind farm. TransAlta has already applied the low wind mitigation strategy to the 38 turbines identified in the study area. ...> Full Article

Killer bees may increase food supplies for native bees (10/2/2009)

A long-term, before and after study of Africanized bee invasion of Mexico's Yucatan shows that 'killer bees' may actually increase food resources for native bees ...> Full Article

Electric fish plug in to communicate (10/1/2009)

Just as people plug in to computers, smart phones and electric outlets to communicate, electric fish communicate by quickly plugging special channels into their cells to generate electrical impulses, University of Texas at Austin researchers have discovered. ...> Full Article

Nepotism has its benefits when it comes to survival (10/1/2009)

While nepotism may have negative connotations in politics and the workplace, being surrounded by your relatives does lead to better group dynamics and more cooperation in some animals. That seems to be the case for spiders, according to research published in the open-access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. In the study, researchers found that Stegodyphus tentoriicola spiders are far more efficient at foraging for food and cooperate better when they're related to each other. ...> Full Article