Ecology & Zoology
PopSci |
Plants often get shorted on attention among biologists. Don't get me wrong -- there is a huge scientific community of plant biologists, field botanists, and agronomists out there, and plenty of research is conducted on plants.
For the bulk of biologists, though, the most interesting questions are those which relate closely to our own species. It's hard to resist the draw of learning where we came from or potential medical miracles such as stem cell research. We can't really learn much about those kinds of things from plants.
Or can we?
Well, yes and no. Some…
Hank |
Let's be honest; life began on land. I know, I know, that is blasphemy and Neil Shubin will stand on high and strike me down with my inner fish for saying such a thing, but while life began in water, life began on land.
And that took land plants. Thanks, embryophytes!
Generally, I have never cared much about plants. I am kind of an anti-vegetarian in the sense that I don't eat plants, instead I regard plants as those things food eats in order to become bigger food. I get the importance of plants scientifically, though.
In that respect, that ol' demon on…
Because society demanded to know, researchers have discovered which species has the largest testicles in relation to body weight on the planet – and it's Tuberous Bush Cricket (Platycleis affinis) which has testes which are 14% of the male body mass.
Don't feel bad, Drosophila bifurca, your testes equal to 10.6% is still mighty. Just in second place now.
What's the reason for that? More sperm, it would seem, but the researchers say that isn't the case, which proves once again that Nature is a bitch (and also a fine magazine, though this study was in Biology Letters.)
"…
Some males give back too - even when it comes to sex.
Male worms plug females after copulation as a form of 'gift', a nice gesture, rather than to prevent them from mating again, as most had previously been thought, according to researchers writing in Frontiers in Zoology who found that plugged females mated just as often and were just as attractive as those who were unplugged, and that plugging ultimately improved female fitness.
Mating plugs have been documented for a broad range of animal groups, including insects, arachnids, reptiles, and rodents. In the worms studied, plugs consist of…
Last night I had a fabulous evening with the Friends of the Elephant Seals, a remarkable collection of intelligent, informed, interested folks. And as often occurs, I learned at least as much information as I imparted, so now I can update my report on elephant seals as squid predators.
We usually see elephant seals hauled out on the beach for fighting, mating, giving birth and nursing. Both males and females fast during this entire period, losing about a third of their body weight. But when they go out to sea to hunt and build up reserves for next season's haul out, the males and females…
Despite my recent obsession with cetaceans, it's important to remember they're not the only cephalopod predators out there. Pretty much anything that can catch a squid will happily chow down on it, including other squid, fish, birds, and mammals.
Into the mammal category go cetaceans, yes, and humans, of course, but also the terrifying charismatic elephant seal:
I mention this because today I am talking to the Friends of the Elephant Seal about one of their friends' prey items: Humboldt squid.
Elephant seals are awesome, but they also kind of freak me out. I am about 1000% more scared of…
Dracula orchids tempt flies by masquerading as mushrooms. Goblin spiders lurk unseen in the world's leaf litter. The natural world is often just as haunting as the macabre costumes worn on city streets, as highlighted by two studies published this year by curators in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, David Grimaldi and Norman Platnick.
DRACULA ORCHIDS
According to Grimaldi and colleagues, fruit flies (Drosophilidae) of the genus Zygothrica typically swarm on mushrooms and other rain forest fungi. But one group of orchids in the American tropics…
So I've been reading a bunch about whales and dolphins eating squid. Tomorrow there will be an exciting post about whether sperm whales really do stun giant squid with sonic blasts, but for now, here is a tantalizing thought about the evolution of echolocation . . .
You know how dolphins bounce sound off of objects underwater to "see" what's around them and "look" for food? Well, a 2007 paper called Things that go bump in the night suggests that this ability evolved specifically to help them hunt squid near the surface at night. Many squid hide at depths during the day, but come to the…
In 1983, two scientists, one from California and one from Denmark, co-authored a research paper titled "Can odontocetes debilitate prey with sound?" Odontocete is a fancy term for toothed whales (the group that includes sperm whales, orcas, and dolphins) and so the question could be written thus: Can toothed whales stun their prey with loud noises?
The idea is a fascinating one, and not too surprisingly, it has caught the public imagination. Sometimes, however, the all-important question mark is omitted, and the statement is taken as fact. It is important to bear in mind the first paragraph…
And thus passes one of the more charismatic cephalopods of our times . . .
The mollusc, named Paul, 'predicted' the outcome of all Germany's matches in South Africa, and Spain's win in the final, by picking a mussel out of a box displaying the victorious country's flag.
The Oberhausen Sea Life Centre said Paul the octopus appeared to have died of natural causes.
Let it be noted, however, that two-and-a-half years is a really good run for an octopus.