Ecology & Zoology

Architeuthis Dux: Release The Kraken- Onto Video

The giant squid is extremely rarely seen but remains are found in the formalin or ethanol collections of various museums.  An international team has learned that no matter where in the world they are found, giant squid are so closely related at the geneti ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 20 2013 - 3:27pm

Cloning Wooly Mammoths?

OK, here's the premise.  The Audubon Nature Institute has something they call a "frozen zoo" (1) which contains genetic material from endangered species.  In this way recently extinct animals may be "recovered" and endangered anima ...

Blog Post - Gerhard Adam - Aug 1 2013 - 6:23pm

Cthulhu Lives!

Two new symbionts living in the gut of termites have been discovered.   These single-cell protists, Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque, help termites digest wood. And now they have a name inspired by science fiction.  ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 3 2013 - 10:16am

Niumbaha Superba: New Genus Of Bat Identified In South Sudan

Researchers visiting South Sudan identified a new genus of bat after discovering a rare specimen and determining the bat was the same as one originally captured in nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939 and named Glauconycteris superba but that i ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 9 2013 - 11:15am

Why Were Female Giant Moa's So Much Bigger Than Males?

Male and female birds often show differences in body size, with males typically being larger. Some birds, like many ratites – large, flightless species such as emus and cassowaries – are the opposite, with the females towering over the males.  But some ex ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 10 2013 - 5:30pm

The Early Warning Signs Of Population Collapse

Many factors can push a wild animal population to the brink of collapse and ecologists have long sought ways to measure the risk of such a collapse. Last year, MIT physicists demonstrated that they could numerically predict a population's risk of col ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 10 2013 - 5:00pm

Fairyflies Get A New Species- Tinkerbella Nana

Mymaridae, commonly known as fairyflies, are one of about 18 families of chalcid wasps. Fairyflies are everywhere except Antarctica and include the world's smallest known insect- Kikiki huna, the body length of which is only 0.13 millimeters. Fairyfl ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 26 2013 - 11:25am

Squid Fishing Fight Not 'David Vs Goliath' But More Like 'Boy Who Cried Wolf'

Is a David and Goliath battle brewing in commercial squid fishery, with larger purse seiners robbing "scoop" fishermen of their livelihoods, sometimes illegally? That is what Virginia Hennessey wrote in the Monterey Herald. Hearing claims of thre ...

Article - Michael Conroy - May 4 2013 - 12:00pm

Subnivium: Harsher Winters But Less Snow Are A Double Whammy For Plants And Animals

If you are toughing out harsh winter weather, snow can be a relief. It's a respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures. But winter and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has declined in recent years, putting plants and animals that d ...

Article - News Staff - May 7 2013 - 3:00pm

Galleria Mellonella: At 300 KHz, Greater Wax Moth Is The World's Most 'Extreme Hearing' Animal

The greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella of the family Pyralidae) is capable of sensing sound frequencies of up to 300 kHz, making it possessor of the highest recorded frequency sensitivity of any animal in the natural world. Humans are only capable of h ...

Article - News Staff - May 8 2013 - 1:25pm