Animal Behavior:
Much of the biological research is done in a handful of model organisms. Important studies in organisms that can help us better understand the evolutionary relationships on a large scale tend to be hidden far away from the limelight of...
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Posted on May 13, 2008 8:01 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
You really think I am going to put this above the fold? No way - you have to click (First posted on July 7, 2006):...
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Posted on May 5, 2008 8:57 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
When teaching human or animal physiology, it is very easy to come up with examples of ubiqutous negative feedback loops. On the other hand, there are very few physiological processes that can serve as examples of positive feedback. These include...
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Posted on May 4, 2008 4:53 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
(First posted on July 21, 2006) Some plants do not want to get eaten. They may grow in places difficult to approach, they may look unappetizing, or they may evolve vile smells. Some have a fuzzy, hairy or sticky surface,...
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Posted on April 28, 2008 4:53 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A January 20, 2006 post placing a cool physiological/behavioral study into an evolutionary context....
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Posted on April 17, 2008 4:52 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
As traveling is not conducive to vigorous blogging (apart from posting travelogue pictures), I have asked a couple of friends to write guest posts here. The first to step up to the plate is Anne Marie who put together her...
Posted on April 17, 2008 10:58 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In this post from April 06, 2006, I present some unpublished data that you may find interesting....
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Posted on April 16, 2008 4:51 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Since everyone is posting about spiders this week, I though I'd republish a sweet old post of mine, which ran on April 19, 2006 under the title "Happy Bicycle Day!" I hope you like this little post as much...
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Posted on April 13, 2008 4:57 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Because that is where zebras cross the road (hat-tip)...
Posted on April 12, 2008 2:21 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Elephants avoiding mines: Eliminated from Angola during more than two decades of civil war, herds of African elephants are crossing heavily mined fields as they recolonize Angola from neighboring Namibia and Botswana. But miraculously, they are avoiding the mines entirely,...
Posted on March 25, 2008 10:59 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
He was here last Tuesday for filming of a scientific documentary for PBS: He was doing important work on an upcoming PBS special "The Human Spark", a three-part documentary about what makes us human, due to air next year. Alda,...
Posted on March 13, 2008 11:28 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
News from SCONC: On Thursday, March 27 at 4 p.m., the Zoology Department at NCSU will host a seminar from Patricia Brennan of Yale University entitled "The Biology of Avian Genitalia: Form and Function." Brennan's work on the genital anatomy...
Posted on March 7, 2008 7:29 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
See the moment when the lion recognizes the guys who raised him as a cub: Hat-tip: Melissa...
Posted on February 29, 2008 7:55 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A paper published back in September - Chimpanzees Share Forbidden Fruit by Hockings et al. is getting renewed attention these days. Rebecca Walton has compiled links to the recent media and blog coverage of the paper (including those by my...
Posted on January 21, 2008 3:07 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Thanks to John Wilkins, I want to point you to an excellent review on the current state of research (both scientific and philosophical) in Animal Cognition....
Posted on January 8, 2008 9:23 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I had no time to read this in detail and write a really decent overview here, perhaps I will do it later, but for now, here are the links and key excerpts from a pair of exciting new papers in...
Posted on January 7, 2008 8:14 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
On Pilobolous: When I first wrote my post on Pilobolus (here and here) I really wanted to do something extra, which I could not do at the time. If you scroll down that post, you will see I reprinted the...
Posted on December 23, 2007 12:51 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Is there any kid who does not love giraffes? They are just so amazing: tall, leggy, fast and graceful, with prehensile tongues and a need to go through complex calistehnics in order to drink. The favourites at zoos, in natural...
Posted on December 22, 2007 9:36 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Posted on December 3, 2007 11:08 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The other day, Kate wrote an interesting post about inter-species relationships, in particular the cases of inter-species adoption and parenting. In her post, she mentioned a paper that immediately drew my attention - Influence of various early human-foal interferences on...
Posted on December 3, 2007 10:59 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Kate describes an unusual reproductive system in topi antelopes in which the fertile females are extremely promiscuous (but choosy) and aggressive. Not what you learned in school under the "mate choice" and "male-male competition" topics in your Animal Behavior classes.......
Posted on November 30, 2007 2:28 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
When I first read about a new paper about the behavior and ecology of maned wolves, I immediately thought of the blogger most uniquely qualified to write about it. Anne-Marie's research is on maned wolves and in her latest post...
Posted on November 29, 2007 1:54 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
That is, if you are a shrew and do not want to be just a dead data-point for some ingenious young ecologists....who at least clean up the tricky trash left by drunk drivers....
Posted on November 26, 2007 9:00 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...the computers and the Web: If you are not clear about the difference between the Net (aka Internet), the Web (aka World Wide Web) and the Graph (aka Social Graph), then this post is a must read (via Ed). He...
Posted on November 23, 2007 8:23 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Last week's PLoS ONE paper, Analysis of the Trajectory of Drosophila melanogaster in a Circular Open Field Arena, is the subject of the newest Journal Club. It is an interesting methods paper, showing the way a camera and some math...
Posted on October 30, 2007 4:25 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Do you agree that Naked Mole Rats are beautiful? Does it irk you to no end when you hear someone state that they are ugly? Does it make you mad when the MSM, oblivious, ignorant and insensitive, repeats that standard...
Posted on October 30, 2007 12:19 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Yesterday, Chris Clarke wrote a post that I read three times so far, then finally submitted it myself for Reed's consideration for the anthology. Most science bloggers are excellent writers, but rare is the gift that Chris displays in many...
Posted on September 28, 2007 10:10 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
When teaching human or animal physiology, it is very easy to come up with examples of ubiqutous negative feedback loops. On the other hand, there are very few physiological processes that can serve as examples of positive feedback. These include...
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Posted on September 27, 2007 1:19 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This was Anton's idea, at the dinner the other night, but I will get it started here anyway. An interesting animal I had I never owned an unusual species of animal. As a little kid I had small turtle named...
Posted on September 26, 2007 11:06 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Just published about an hour ago (if it was in hardcopy, it would still be hot off the presses). And it is a wonderful paper! Australian crocs can and will travel much longer distances than was previously thought and their...
Posted on September 25, 2007 6:33 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Earlier studies have indicated that a gene called FOXP2, possibly involved in brain development, is extremely conserved in vertebrates, except for two notable mutations in humans. This finding suggested that this gene may in some way be involved in the...
Posted on September 20, 2007 3:47 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Too busy with the pseudo-moving right now, so just a quick set of links to other people's good stuff: An amazing, fantastic post on Laelaps about horse evolution (also noted by Larry Moran). While at first glance, this post on...
Posted on September 16, 2007 2:11 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Come see Sapolsky, Deacon, de Waal, Rosenberg, Dennett, Fox Keller and others talk about what it means to be human (or chimp).
Posted on September 14, 2007 9:16 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Two recent examples of successful and aggressive defense against carnivores - the first one was everywhere, but I watched it first on Stranger Fruit (African buffaloes chasing away the lions - with a crocodile playing a supporting role) and the...
Posted on September 8, 2007 9:56 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
At the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CO), they filmed the birth:...
Posted on September 8, 2007 6:54 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
It is not unusal to write an obituary when a great scientist passes away. It is much more unusual to do so when a lab animal does so. But when that animal is not just an experimental subject, but also...
Posted on September 8, 2007 3:54 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Bjoern Brembs placed his latest manuscript about the generation effect in fruitflies on Nature Precedings before resubmitting it to PLoS Biology. He is seeking feedback to make the manuscript better. So, if you think you can, go and try to...
Posted on September 6, 2007 11:23 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
One cool thing about being a blogging biologist is that one can write every day about sex with a straight face and then blame readers for "having a dirty mind". But sex is so interesting - life would cease to...
Posted on August 29, 2007 1:09 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
If we are not there at the moment of birth, how come we can bond with the baby and be good fathers or good adoptive parents? Kate explains. Obligatory Reading of the Day. Update: Related is this new article by...
Posted on August 28, 2007 1:48 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Do you remember all the buzz about the paper on the not random but not deterministic either behavior in fruitflies? By our blogfriend Bjoern Brembs? Well, you can now watch the behavior of the insect in the movie associated with...
Posted on August 22, 2007 11:23 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The textbook example of commensalism was always the interaction between trees and the birds who make nests in those trees - it was always assumed that the birds gain from this relationships, while the trees are not in any way...
Posted on August 1, 2007 4:54 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There is a new study this week about an unusual reproductive strategy in a bird, the Penduline Tit, which, if anthropomorphized, would appear to be an example of some really bad, deceptive parenting. But, Anne-Marie and Kate demonstrate the proper...
Posted on July 31, 2007 11:00 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Bjoern Brembs is at the ICN meeting and is blogging about the talks he saw. If I went, I would have probably attended a completely different set of talks, e.g., on birdsong, memory in food-caching birds, aggression in crustaceans, strange...
Posted on July 26, 2007 4:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In this post from April 06, 2006, I present some unpublished data that you may find interesting....
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Posted on July 25, 2007 4:54 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Sea lions are a big draw at Pier 39. I have seen them in zoos many times, but this is the first time I see them in their normal geographical setting, as 'un-natural' it may seem. Unfortunately, only a dozen...
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Posted on July 22, 2007 6:17 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Russ reports on a new study of elephant communication via vibrations transmitted through the ground. It was documented before that elephants could detect these. It was also documented that they could send out infrasonic rumbles which travel faster and farther...
Posted on July 22, 2007 1:02 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
By The Associated Press HEMLOCK, Mich. -- A woman who hates spiders is crediting them with helping save her from a house fire. Danielle Vigue, 18, says she awoke early Tuesday to find spiders in her room, and started killing...
Posted on July 19, 2007 3:16 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A very interesting new paper was published today in PLoS Biology: Flight Speeds among Bird Species: Allometric and Phylogenetic Effects by Thomas Alerstam, Mikael Rosen, Johan Backman, Per G. P. Ericson and Olof Hellgren: Analysing the variation in flight speed...
Posted on July 17, 2007 11:47 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
You really don't want to be an enemy of the aphids - two papers today! The first is quite straightforward: Aphids Make 'Chemical Weapons' To Fight Off Killer Ladybirds: Cabbage aphids have developed an internal chemical defence system which enables...
Posted on July 12, 2007 12:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Such fascinating creatures! If you have missed it so far, don't miss it now - the two-part series by Mark H on DailyKos: Marine Life Series: Horseshoe Crab Basics Marine Life Series: Horseshoe Crab Anatomy One day when I find...
Posted on July 10, 2007 12:12 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There is a new paper on PLoS-Biology describing a tit-for-tat-like reciprocal behavior in rats: Generalized Reciprocity in Rats: The evolution of cooperation is based on four general mechanisms: mutualism, where an action benefits all partners directly; kin selection, where related...
Posted on July 3, 2007 2:10 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Probably not. You are not one of Pavlov's dogs, after all. Or a Pavlov's cat for that matter. Or a Pavlov's sea slug. But, see what's your salivary response to reading a brand new paper on Pavlov's cockroaches and report...
Posted on June 13, 2007 3:41 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There are a lot of people blogging about their kids. But when Kate writes about parenting issues, it is pure science. After attending a meeting on parental behavior, she's been churning out post after post on this fascinating topic: Cheetah...
Posted on June 13, 2007 8:14 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
When I was a kid I swallowed science-fiction by the crates. And I was too young to be very discerning of quality - I liked everything. Good taste developed later, with age. But even at that tender age, there was...
Posted on June 7, 2007 10:18 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Tanja was lucky last night. She and her husband were filming bats out in Arizona. At one moment she picked up her cheap camera and aimed it at the sky at just the right moment to catch this picture of...
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Posted on June 4, 2007 3:54 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Review of some very cool new papers on Drosophila circadian clocks
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Posted on May 19, 2007 12:56 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Remember last summer when some guy named Paul Manger wrote a paper asserting how dolphins and other Cetaceans are really quite dumb? There was quite an interesting discussion about it on blogs back then, e.g., here, here, here and here....
Posted on May 18, 2007 12:01 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Fly Spontaneous Behavior paper is generating quite a lot of buzz. Bjorn has collected some of the best blogospheric responses, including these from Mark Chu-Carroll, Mark Hoofnagle and Kate. He also got Slashdotted - of course, whoever posted that...
Posted on May 17, 2007 4:32 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Google was really no help in finding the exact quote, but everyone in the animal behavior field has heard some version of the Harvard Rule of Animal Behaviour: "You can have the most beautifully designed experiment with the most carefully...
Posted on May 15, 2007 10:36 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Of course, I was not the only one commenting on the recent duck phallus paper. You should check out the other blogospheric responses, e.g., by Carl, PZ, RPM, Grrrl, Laelaps, Neil, Belle, Zuzu, Guru and many others. Unfortunately, most people...
Posted on May 3, 2007 12:00 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...because weird sex does not only happen on Fridays.... Remember this? Many have asked themselves (I did) where does it go, i.e., what kind of female genital tract can accomodate such a large penis. But one person actually did not...
Posted on May 1, 2007 8:51 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Yup, that was going to be the title of this post. I got the paper and was ready to write the post when I noticed that Peter scooped me and posted about the same paper today (yup, there is just...
Posted on April 20, 2007 4:57 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
It is Marine Megavertebrate Week right now, so why not take a look at one of the most Mega of the Megaverts - the grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus): Do whales sleep? You may have heard that dolphins do - one...
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Posted on April 18, 2007 1:06 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Sex And Prenatal Hormone Exposure Affect Cognitive Performance: Yerkes researchers are using their findings to better understand sex differences in cognitive performance, which may lead to increased understanding of the difference in neuropsychological disorders men and women experience. In one...
Posted on April 16, 2007 2:56 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
When my 'Scientific American' arrived the other day, I was excited to read the article about ravens by Bernd Heinrich, as I loved his book Mind of a Raven. I was also glad to see that new cool experiments have...
Posted on April 10, 2007 6:34 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Long time ago, I mentioned here something about the Belgrade Zoo. The power of Google brought a Belgrader, Sonja, to my blog, who alerted me to the dire conditions in which the Zoo is right now and the existence of...
Posted on March 27, 2007 2:59 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Russ noted that someone is using thermography to study thermoregulation in elephants: Wits University has just completed studies on how elephants cope with high African temperatures and how that influences their behaviour. In African savannahs, elephants are exposed to high...
Posted on March 26, 2007 9:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
We've had a few dogs over the years and housebreaking them was never a big problem. But now we got my mother-in-law's puppy labradoodle - who is a real sweetheart - for a couple of weeks to see if we...
Posted on March 26, 2007 1:51 AM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
