Ecology & Zoology

A University of Leicester ecologist has warned that Kenya is being “bled dry” by the UK’s demand for fresh flowers, a timely concern given Valentine's Day.   Dr. David Harper, of the Department of Biology has been working at Lake Naivasha in Kenya as part of ongoing research and projects on the ecosystem of lakes there and has called on UK supermarkets to show more concern about the health of the natural environment that the flowers come from.Blaming supermarkets seems a little much but academics know better than to blame individuals so telling poor women they shouldn't get flowers would…

Covered in the popular media with the engaging headline Scientists discover how to make squid go completely berserk is a recent study about squid pheromones. Squid species of a particular family, Loliginidae, are famous for their spawning aggregations. They gather together in certain areas at certain times of the year, and the females lay eggs in elongate capsules attached to the seafloor. A cluster of capsules is often referred to as an "egg mop" and a collection of mops as an "egg bed." Stumbling upon on egg bed while diving can be a dramatic sight. Apparently, for at least one loliginid…

Well, it's been six months and the news cycle has come around again to the same squiddy topics: a new TV show about giant squid, and the question of whether squid can hear. The giant squid documentary, which was supposed to come out in 2010, is a wee bit behind schedule. The new news is that the Japanese broadcaster NHK is partnering with Al-Jazeera Children's Channel in this venture. That's a cool collaboration! Nothing brings the whole world together like a fascination with giant squid. In 2009, NHK said it was working on a series called Giant Squid: Last Mystery of the Deep with Science…

X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how snakes lost their legs during evolution and perhaps help help resolve the debate about whether they evolved from a terrestrial lizard or from one that lived in the oceans. New 3-D images in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology reveal that the internal architecture of an ancient snake's leg bones strongly resembles that of modern terrestrial lizard legs.Only three specimens of fossilized snakes with preserved leg bones are in existence. Eupodophis descouensi, the ancient snake studied in this experiment, was discovered ten…

Giant Squid Kill Fishermen, courtesy of Weekly World News, "The World's Only Reliable News." Marine biologists rushed to the scene hoping to catch at least one of the squid. Dr. Luis Santiago of the Universidad Autónoma Baja California Sur explained, “We captured one of the attackers. She is female and we believe most of the pack to be female because of their size. We also believe they coordinated the attack by using pigment cells to communicate, which is very typical in a situation like this. I’m afraid we may be seeing more of these attacks in the coming years, and possibly forever."…

FIS (Fish Information and Services, the "most comprehensive website for the commercial fishing industry") has a run of recent squid news. Let's start with Illex argentinus, the Argentinian shortfin squid with a history of contention between fishers from Argentina and the Falkland Islands. After a 2009 crash, Illex rebounded somewhat in 2010 (possibly due to shifting environmental conditions), but so far the catch from the Falklands this year isn't looking good: Vessels fishing for the squid species Illex argentinus in Falklands waters have been reporting poor catches of around two and five…

Today I am going to send you over to Deep-Sea News for your squid fix. Because Dr. M has just made the compelling case that Giant Squid Are Awesomesauce. There's really not room for debate. (There might be room for a couple of grammatical edits.) It is important to point out that giant squid share many of their awesome features with other, smaller squid species. Chitin-ringed suckers, an aimable siphon, esophagus-through-the-brain, and other traits may lead us to conclude that, in fact, all squid are awesomesauce. P.S. My brain is now humming, to the tune of A-Hunting We Will Go: Esophagus…

Boingboing science editor Maggie Koerth-Baker says everyone loves cephalopods because they are AWESOME. I agree 100%.

Has anyone else heard of a "massive 20ft. octopus" washing ashore in the Bahamas last week? I hadn't until this article, which also comments on a recent octopus stranding in Portugal (presumably the individual octopuses in this case are of more modest proportions). Both are linked to a larger pattern of "animapocalypse": Small animals all over the world have been dying in mass. Birds and fish have been documented to have died by the hundreds at the time. Brazil reported over two million fish washing ashore in one coastal city at the time. No link between the episodes has been established,…

Treehugger did an interview this week with deep-sea biologist Edith Widder. She's done some very cool research by creating devices to imitate deep-sea animals, in order to attract other deep-sea animals. The lure is just 16 blue lights embedded around the circumference of a round epoxy mold that is shaped like the jelly. When caught in the clutches of a predator the jelly produces a light display that is a pinwheel of light that is basically a call for help. It serves to attract the attention of a larger predator that may attack their attacker thereby affording them an opportunity for escape…