Ecology & Zoology

Optimizing Sweet Potatoes- People Want Uniform, Medium-Sized And No Blemishes

Sweet potato products have increased in popularity so growers and processors are interested in identifying ways to make the crop more widely available.  ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 28 2014 - 10:10am

Your Mandible Size Is Overrated

It's official- females prefer courtship over competitiveness. And she may talk with her friends about the size of your mandibles, but it really doesn't matter.    Female mate choice and male-male competition are typical mechanisms of sexual sele ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 29 2014 - 8:05pm

Moroccan Flic-Flac:Spider Gymnast

A paper in Zootaxa describes a new species of spider, Cebrennus rechenbergi, the only spider that is able to move by means of flic-flac jumps.  The nocturnal spider Cebrennus rechenbergi lives in the sand desert Erg Chebbi in southeastern Morocco, not far ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 2:30am

Self-Fumigation Actually Is For The Birds

How can science help save the wild finches Darwin made famous in the Galapagos Islands from invasive species? By leaving cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide laying around. In an experiment, the wild finches used the cotton to help build their nests ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 10:00pm

Give a hoot. Don’t shoot!

"The spotted owl is the poster boy on how to use the Endangered Species Act to accomplish a goal beyond the species itself and how things can get messed up." Ban Nock writing in the Daily Kos ...

Blog Post - Norm Benson - May 9 2014 - 9:17am

Liladownsia Fraile: New Grasshopper Species Named After Mexican Singer

There are about 9,700 known species of grasshoppers in the world. Now there is one more, and it has beeen named  Grammy-award winning singer and Mexican activist Ana Lila Downs Sanchez. Locals called the creature the friar grasshopper because its head loo ...

Article - News Staff - May 8 2014 - 10:20am

Ecuadorian Wasp That Mummifies Prey Named After Shakira

Some Ecuadorian tribes were famous for making mummified shrunken heads (click for the recipe) from the remains of their conquered foes.  Perhaps they got the idea from nature. Field work in the cloud forests of Ecuador has resulted in the discovery of 24 ...

Article - News Staff - May 8 2014 - 11:41am

Cebrennus Rechenbergi- New Spider Species Rolls Like A Tumbleweed And Flips Like An Acrobat

A spider in the Moroccan Sahara rolls like a tumbleweed and can do powerful, acrobatic flips through the air. Cebrennus rechenbergi runs for a short time, then stretches out its front legs, spinning into the air and returning to touch the ground with its h ...

Article - News Staff - May 9 2014 - 8:56am

Environmental Catastrophe Looming: Invasive Coyotes Wiping Out Eastern Deer Populations

If you ask rural people in the American east which is more damaging to the ecology, coyotes or deer, it may be a toss-up. But that doesn't mean it is a good idea for one to just take the other out. In most states, deer population management also brin ...

Article - News Staff - May 10 2014 - 2:00pm

EU Ban On Throwing Back Unwanted Fish Is Not Based On Evidence- And Doesn't Help

Seabirds, marine mammals, seabed animals and other fish actually love human fishermen- because they throw back unwanted fish and that means free food with less work. New rules have been put in place by the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CF ...

Article - News Staff - May 13 2014 - 9:30am