All posts; Tags Include "Zoology"
- September 2, 2016
- 10:28 AM
- 58 views
Red Kangaroo
by Jason Organ in Eatlemania!
The Eatles are chomping on the remains of a red kangaroo. Come learn about some of the anatomical specializations in this fascinating animal.... Read more »
McCarthy, M. (1996) Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) Dynamics: Effects of Rainfall, Density Dependence, Harvesting and Environmental Stochasticity. The Journal of Applied Ecology, 33(1), 45. DOI: 10.2307/2405014
Sharman, G., Frith, H., & Calaby, J. (1964) Growth of the pouch young, tooth eruption and age determination in the Red Kangaroo, Megaleia rufa. CSIRO Wildlife Research, 9(1), 20. DOI: 10.1071/CWR9640020
Sonnabend, D., & Young, A. (2009) Comparative anatomy of the rotator cuff. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, 91-B(12), 1632-1637. DOI: 10.1302/0301-620X.91B12.22370
- September 2, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 56 views
Friday Fellow: Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetle
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll It’s time for our next beetle. Today the fellow I chose is Ontholestes cingulatus or gold-and-brown rove beetle. Rove beetles are the second most numerous family of beetles after weevils. Their more remarkable feature is that their … Continue reading →... Read more »
Alcock, J. (1991) Adaptive mate-guarding by males of Ontholestes cingulatus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 4(6), 763-771. DOI: 10.1007/BF01052230
- September 1, 2016
- 10:19 AM
- 72 views
Responsible resurrection: The ecology of de-extinction
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
March of the mammoths Improvements in our genetic tinkering capabilities have led several people to suggest potential uses for our newfound powers. Although we ought to add some nuance and note that those powers are still in development. In any case, one of those powers is quite impressive. De-extinction, or the process of bringing back […]... Read more »
Seddon PJ, Griffiths CJ, Soorae PS, & Armstrong DP. (2014) Reversing defaunation: restoring species in a changing world. Science, 345(6195), 406-12. PMID: 25061203
McCauley, D., Hardesty-Moore, M., Halpern, B., & Young, H. (2016) A mammoth undertaking: harnessing insight from functional ecology to shape de-extinction priority setting. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12728
- August 30, 2016
- 03:55 PM
- 64 views
Like mother, like daughter: why some animals teach their daughters more than they teach their sons
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Why do some learned behaviors appear more frequently in daughters than in sons? I describe an article that attempts to answer this question by looking at dolphins, and briefly, chimpanzees.... Read more »
Zefferman, M. (2016) Mothers teach daughters because daughters teach granddaughters: the evolution of sex-biased transmission. Behavioral Ecology, 27(4), 1172-1181. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw022
- August 26, 2016
- 05:00 AM
- 99 views
Friday Fellow: Six-Spot Burnet
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Found in Europe, today’s Friday Fellow is a nice day-flying moth with beautiful colors and toxic compounds. Scientifically known as Zygaena filipendulae, its common name is six-spot burnet, burnet being the common name of moths in the … Continue reading →... Read more »
Zagrobelny, M., Bak, S., Olsen, C., & Møller, B. (2007) Intimate roles for cyanogenic glucosides in the life cycle of Zygaena filipendulae (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae). Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 37(11), 1189-1197. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2007.07.008
- August 18, 2016
- 08:00 AM
- 173 views
Sorry, I Don't Drink
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Koalas don’t drink a lot of water, but the spinifex hopping mouse and kangaroo rat put him to shame. They never drink. What water they need they get from the seeds they eat and from the fact that they conserve water amazingly well – including the water that they produce during metabolism. Adult mayflies don’t drink either – they don’t have working mouthparts! Of course, some only live a few minutes as adults, so it may not be that big a deal.... Read more »
Banta MR. (2003) Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) voluntarily select temperatures that conserve energy rather than water. Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZ, 76(4), 522-32. PMID: 13130431
King RF, Cooke C, Carroll S, & O'Hara J. (2008) Estimating changes in hydration status from changes in body mass: considerations regarding metabolic water and glycogen storage. Journal of sports sciences, 26(12), 1361-3. PMID: 18828029
- August 17, 2016
- 08:03 PM
- 159 views
It takes a village to raise a capybara
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Capybaras have been making headlines recently. First, they may have established a breeding population in Florida. Then, they took over the Olympic golf course in Rio (part of their natural habitat). This week, I discuss social groupings and parental care in these noteworthy rodents. ... Read more »
Dos Santos E, Tokumaru RS, Nogueira-Filho SL, & Nogueira SS. (2014) The effects of unrelated offspring whistle calls on capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Brazilian journal of biology , 74(3 Suppl 1). PMID: 25627382
- August 12, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 70 views
Friday Fellow: Jataí Bee
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Certainly the most widespread, adaptable and well-known honey-producing bee is Apis melifera, commonly known as honeybee for obvious reasons. But there are a lot of other honey makers all over the world. Today I’m going to present … Continue reading →... Read more »
Miorin, P., Levy Junior, N., Custodio, A., Bretz, W., & Marcucci, M. (2003) Antibacterial activity of honey and propolis from Apis mellifera and Tetragonisca angustula against Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 95(5), 913-920. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.02050.x
Sawaya, A., Cunha, I., Marcucci, M., de Oliveira Rodrigues, R., & Eberlin, M. (2006) Brazilian Propolis of Tetragonisca angustula and Apis mellifera. Apidologie, 37(3), 398-407. DOI: 10.1051/apido:2006011
- August 10, 2016
- 11:05 PM
- 205 views
Size of female-built nests affects how males act
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Last week, I discussed how male quality in birds may be related to their song. How do males evaluate females in return? The answer may lie in their nests.... Read more »
Cantarero, A., López-Arrabé, J., Plaza, M., Saavedra-Garcés, I., & Moreno, J. (2016) Males feed their mates more and take more risks for nestlings with larger female-built nests: an experimental study in the Nuthatch Sitta europaea. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70(8), 1141-1150. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2122-2
- August 10, 2016
- 08:55 AM
- 213 views
Gimme Some Dihydrogen Monoxide
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
One cannot over estimate the ways that water affects life on Earth. Beyond its chemical properties, some animals have evolved to substitute water for a rigid skeleton. Hydrostatic skeletons can be used for support, but also as water vascular systems that provide pressure for vascular transport and respiration. A recent review by William H. Kier sheds light on the interactions of different fibers and tissues in water based skeletons. Yet some plants can withstand a loss of 60% of their water, whe........ Read more »
Kier, W. (2012) The diversity of hydrostatic skeletons. Journal of Experimental Biology, 215(8), 1247-1257. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.056549
- August 3, 2016
- 05:50 PM
- 242 views
Chicks dig musicians, or, birdsong and male quality
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Ah, music. Many people are profoundly affected by it, and so are birds. In fact, research by Byers et al. in the August 2016 issue of Ethology suggests that female prairie warblers can gain valuable information about a male through that male’s song, and use this information to decide whether to mate.... Read more »
Byers, B., Akresh, M., & King, D. (2016) Song and Male Quality in Prairie Warblers. Ethology, 122(8), 660-670. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12513
- August 2, 2016
- 08:07 PM
- 233 views
Gender Conflict: Who’s the man in the relationship?
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Everyone with some sort of knowledge on evolution have heard of sexual conflict, how males and females have different interests during reproduction, and sexual selection, i.e., how one sex can influence the evolution of the other. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Anthes, N., Putz, A., & Michiels, N. (2006) Hermaphrodite sex role preferences: the role of partner body size, mating history and female fitness in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 60(3), 359-367. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-006-0173-5
Janicke, T., Marie-Orleach, L., De Mulder, K., Berezikov, E., Ladurner, P., Vizoso, D., & Schärer, L. (2013) SEX ALLOCATION ADJUSTMENT TO MATING GROUP SIZE IN A SIMULTANEOUS HERMAPHRODITE. Evolution, 67(11), 3233-3242. DOI: 10.1111/evo.12189
Leonard, J. (1990) The Hermaphrodite's Dilemma. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 147(3), 361-371. DOI: 10.1016/S0022-5193(05)80493-X
Leonard, J., & Lukowiak, K. (1991) Sex and the simultaneous hermaphrodite: testing models of male-female conflict in a sea slug, Navanax intermis (Opisthobranchia). Animal Behaviour, 41(2), 255-266. DOI: 10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80477-4
Marie-Orleach, L., Janicke, T., & Schärer, L. (2013) Effects of mating status on copulatory and postcopulatory behaviour in a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Animal Behaviour, 85(2), 453-461. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.12.007
Schärer, L., Joss, G., & Sandner, P. (2004) Mating behaviour of the marine turbellarian Macrostomum sp.: these worms suck. Marine Biology, 145(2). DOI: 10.1007/s00227-004-1314-x
Schärer, L., Littlewood, D., Waeschenbach, A., Yoshida, W., & Vizoso, D. (2011) Mating behavior and the evolution of sperm design. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(4), 1490-1495. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1013892108
Schärer, L., Janicke, T., & Ramm, S. (2015) Sexual Conflict in Hermaphrodites. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 7(1). DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a017673
Wethington, A., & Dillon, JR, R. (1996) Gender choice and gender conflict in a non-reciprocally mating simultaneous hermaphrodite, the freshwater snail,Physa. Animal Behaviour, 51(5), 1107-1118. DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1996.0112
- July 29, 2016
- 08:00 AM
- 208 views
Friday Fellow: Royal sea star
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll In order to celebrate the 5oth Friday Fellow, which was posted today, I decided to bring you an extra Friday Fellow! Afterall, there are plenty of interesting lifeforms to be shown. As I have never presented … Continue reading →... Read more »
Beddingfield, S., & McClintock, J. (1993) Feeding behavior of the sea star Astropecten articulatus (Echinodermata: Asteroidea): an evaluation of energy-efficient foraging in a soft-bottom predator. Marine Biology, 115(4), 669-676. DOI: 10.1007/BF00349375
- July 29, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 255 views
Friday Fellow: Cute bee fly
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Recently the appearance of a new pokémon, Cutiefly, has brought a lot of attention to the real world species in which it is based. So why not bring it to Friday Fellow so that you may … Continue reading →... Read more »
Brooks, A. (2012) Identification of Bombyliid Parasites and Hyperparasites of Phalaenidae of the Prairie Provinces of Canada, with Descriptions of Six Other Bombyliid Pupae (Diptera). The Canadian Entomologist, 84(12), 357-373. DOI: 10.4039/Ent84357-12
Jazykov (Zakhvatkin), A. (2009) Parasites and Hyperparasites of the Egg-pods of injurious Locusts (Acridodea) of Turkestan. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 22(03), 385. DOI: 10.1017/S0007485300029904
- July 28, 2016
- 08:34 AM
- 280 views
Game of Farmers: Agriculture is coming
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Gron gazed across the plain from inside a tuft of long grass. There. Just in front of the far hillock. Gazelles. Meals on legs. He vaguely remembered mother carrying him through cooler forests when he was not yet old enough to walk. He had never understood why they had left. But he had learned, had […]... Read more »
Zeder MA. (2008) Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(33), 11597-604. PMID: 18697943
Lazaridis, I., Nadel, D., Rollefson, G., Merrett, D., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Fernandes, D., Novak, M., Gamarra, B., Sirak, K.... (2016) Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature19310
- July 25, 2016
- 09:04 PM
- 259 views
Wave that claw: how male crabs attract mates
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Male Ilyoplax pusilla crabs wave their claws in the air to attract females, but why do different-sized males spend different amounts of time waving? The answer lies in research published this year. ... Read more »
Kawano, Y., & Henmi, Y. (2016) Female preference for large waving claws in the dotillid crab Ilyoplax pusilla. Journal of Ethology. DOI: 10.1007/s10164-016-0471-y
- July 20, 2016
- 06:50 AM
- 336 views
Take Off Your Coat And Stay Awhile
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The naked mole rat is quite naked, but a lack of hair does help it move around in its environment. Other mammals that are supposedly hairless aren’t really, even dolphins have a few hairs. Of course, some humans and other mammals can have autoimmune disease mutations that make them completely hairless. For the naked mole rat it was a strange adaptation with strange results – it has become the only cold-blooded (ectothermic) mammal!... Read more »
Kutsukake, N., Inada, M., Sakamoto, S., & Okanoya, K. (2012) A Distinct Role of the Queen in Coordinated Workload and Soil Distribution in Eusocial Naked Mole-Rats. PLoS ONE, 7(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044584
- July 7, 2016
- 02:44 PM
- 321 views
Biological fight: kites, mites, quite bright plights
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll A recently described fossil from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte in the United Kingdom has called much attention. The appearance of the creature was build by scanning the rock and creating a 3D reconstruction of the fossil. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Briggs, D., Siveter, D., Siveter, D., Sutton, M., & Legg, D. (2016) Tiny individuals attached to a new Silurian arthropod suggest a unique mode of brood care. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(16), 4410-4415. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1600489113
Briggs, D., Siveter, D., Siveter, D., Sutton, M., & Legg, D. (2016) Reply to Piper: Aquilonifer’s kites are not mites . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(24). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1606265113
Piper, R. (2016) Offspring or phoronts? An alternative interpretation of the “kite-runner” fossil. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(24). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1605909113
- July 7, 2016
- 09:09 AM
- 413 views
Are animals (and AI’s) people too?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Charles gets up and balances on his short legs. During the brief ungainly walk to the dais, he fights the urge to scratch his arms. The vest that has been tailor-made for him itches. But it will help focus the committee on his purpose, focus on him as a person. He squats on the low […]... Read more »
Perring C. (1997) Degrees of personhood. The Journal of medicine and philosophy, 22(2), 173-97. PMID: 9186928
Windrem MS, Schanz SJ, Morrow C, Munir J, Chandler-Militello D, Wang S, & Goldman SA. (2014) A competitive advantage by neonatally engrafted human glial progenitors yields mice whose brains are chimeric for human glia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 34(48), 16153-61. PMID: 25429155
- July 6, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 339 views
Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Just My Philodendron?
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
It is usually animals that are referred to as endotherms or ectotherms – plants can’t regulate their temperature, right? Don’t tell that to a certain philodendron that can spike the temperature of its flowers to more than 113˚F on two nights of the year, just to attract the beetles that will pollinate it.... Read more »
Ito K, & Seymour RS. (2005) Expression of uncoupling protein and alternative oxidase depends on lipid or carbohydrate substrates in thermogenic plants. Biology letters, 1(4), 427-30. PMID: 17148224
Dötterl, S., David, A., Boland, W., Silberbauer-Gottsberger, I., & Gottsberger, G. (2012) Evidence for Behavioral Attractiveness of Methoxylated Aromatics in a Dynastid Scarab Beetle-Pollinated Araceae. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 38(12), 1539-1543. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-012-0210-y
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