If you set out to answer questions about species diversity, there are two questions you need to consider - how is diversity generated, and how is diversity maintained? The simplest measure of…

One night each year, tiny magic reindeer pull Santa and his toy-filled sleigh around the world. Their names are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and maybe Rudolph (or…

If you set out to answer questions about species diversity, there are two questions you need to consider - how is diversity generated, and how is diversity maintained? The simplest measure of…

In my recent post on Mexican dry forest, I mentioned the fact that about 80% of the species in the genus Bursera were endemic to Mexico.  Things like that tend to jump out at you.  Why are…

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As a former dog owner and dog lover, I was not really surprised by last week's report that dogs have been found to "sense inequity", a.k.a. be jealous of the dog that's being treated better than they…

Last weekend I visited the St. Louis Zoo to witness their first ever Penguin Walk. One thing I will definitely miss about the St. Louis Zoo is their penguin and puffin display.  When visiting,…

Annemarie Surlykke from the University of Southern Denmark is fascinated by echolocation. She really wants to know how it works. Surlykke equates the ultrasound cries that bats use for echolocation…

Sometimes while doing science, one is struck by something in the same way that one is affected by beautiful art. Not that these are the most amazing images ever (they weren't meant to be artistic,…

The wild pea pod is big and heavy, with seemingly little prayer of escaping the shade of its parent plant. And yet, like a grounded teenager who knows where the car keys are hidden, it manages – if…