zooillogix
Posts by this author
October 1, 2008
Built by the French performing arts group "La Machine" for Liverpool's European Capital of Culture program a few weeks back, the giant arachnid reaches 15 meters tall and weighs 37 tons.
Built from both steel and wood, it utlizes a hydraulic system to move all spider-like and is operated by 12…
September 30, 2008
Aquarium staff at Kinosaki Marine World in western Japan recently noticed that their dolphins were less acrobatic in their performances and more lethargic in general. Concerned about their health, the dolphins were weighed and found to be significantly heavier since only a few months prior.…
September 19, 2008
Marine biologists off the coast of Australia have discovered what they believe to be hundreds of new species on the Great Barrier and Ningaloo Reefs. The project is part of CReefs, a global census of coral reefs, which is in turn part of the larger Census of Marine Life, an ongoing effort to…
September 18, 2008
Don't know the background here. Not for those with weak stomachs, pretty incredible though.
September 16, 2008
I stumbled into a meeting my brain and experience are wholly unqualified to report on, so instead, I will tell you about this much more exciting piece of information. Today, from 4PM-7PM, the AZA will be holding a live auction of paintings created by animals. Anyone can join the auction online but…
September 16, 2008
Basically this session is about making a media story out of a zoo or aquarium's conservation efforts. I'm making a story out of making a story.
Challenging Media Myths About White Sharks
Speaker: Karen Jeffries, Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium examined the possibility of exhibiting…
September 16, 2008
After the keynote, Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, received the AZA R Marlin Perkins Award for Professional Excellence. For those of you who don't know him, Hanna is a regular guest on morning news shows, late night talk shows, and pretty much anyone with a TV show and a desk in-…
September 16, 2008
I'm sitting in the keynote speaker session listening to Nigel Martin, host of Prehistoric Park, Penguin Safari, Shark Week and other Discovery/Animal Planet shows, discuss the parallels between his job and that of zoo and aquarium employees.
He offered a number of examples including figuratively…
September 16, 2008
You may have noticed a dearth of Zooillogix posts over the last two weeks. This is due in large part to Benny buying a bar, and me buying a puppy. They are the same amount of work. Well I aim to make it up to you today and already I have forced myself out of bed at 5:00 AM and boarded a train to…
September 11, 2008
A quick wrap-up of the animals discovered not to be extinct this week:
Armoured mistfrog
This Armoured Mistfrog, thought by many experts to be extinct due to the recent amphibian chytrid fungus epidemic, was rediscovered by my boss, enterprise search god, Chris Cleveland, while he should have been…
September 5, 2008
Zooillogix would like to take a moment to introduce you to Parborlasia corrugatus, a proboscis worm residing in the waters of Antarctica. We should note that we were inspired to learn more about these cute little fellows from this outstanding pic we saw on Ugly Overload.
Photo credit Jeff Miller…
August 28, 2008
Imaginative but effective ads from the Buenos Aires Zoo. Via Toxel and thanks once again to Kevin Z.
"Get Much More for Less" Ads
"The Kangaroos Have Arrived" Ads
Many more below the fold
"Now We Are Open Late" Ads
"115 Years" Ads
Together Video (note that we cannot endorse the historical…
August 26, 2008
After reviewing thousands of images of cows on Google Earth, the new gold standard in data collection, scientists have determined that cows generally point north. Lest you think this is some crap news my brother grabbed from the Daily Mail, Dr. Sabine Begall and colleagues from the University of…
August 26, 2008
Some people look at this and see a terrifying undersea monster with potrusible jaws like our old pal from Alien. I see my dog Izzy playfully tugging on my sleeve... after some sort of horrible experiment that mutated her into a nightmarish killing machine. Kidding kidding.
The goblin shark is a…
August 25, 2008
The Georgia Aquarium just unveiled the latest addition to it's bigger-is-better strategy: Nandi the manta ray. Apparently rescued from shark nets off the Coast of South Africa, Nandi spent the last few months living at uShaka Marine World in Durban, South Africa. When it became clear that Nandi was…
August 22, 2008
It's long overdue. Time for a Zooillogix writers, friends, and lowly readers party.
On Friday, Sept. 26th, we will be having our get together at Tonic, in San Francisco, starting at 9:00PM. We think it will be fun to see what weirdos (that's you!) come out of the woodwork. At worst, Ben and I will…
August 21, 2008
Some incredible early morning shots of wet insects by German photographer Martin Amm.
Red veined darter
Horsefly
more below the fold
Emerald damselfly
Breakfast
Check out more of his work here
August 21, 2008
There's no interesting news. It appears all the world's animals have finally been discovered, their strange mating behaviors documented, and their interest in acting all crazy for YouTube evaporated. But we are undaunted. We will make the logical transition and become a knitting blog.
Once again,…
August 13, 2008
A ScienceFriday video podcast from over a year ago on how the star-nosed mole and other mammals can actually sniff for prey underwater.
I wonder if this is what my dog is doing and she sticks her nose to the base of the door and snorts as people approach.
August 8, 2008
The French love their raw oysters. In fact, the French consume the most herpes, I mean oysters, per capita in the world; an average of 2kg! That's a lot of raw oyster.
Well the French were horrified to learn last week that their care-free raw oystering lifestyle had finally hit the rocks. 40 to 100…
August 8, 2008
The firm Site Specific Design, creates furniture inspired by arthropods (particularly chilopoda), mollusks, and the other critters that live under decaying leaf matter. Creative Director, Rui Docouto, explained that as a child he was fascinated with "bugs." "The goal with the bug-lamps was to give…
August 6, 2008
Fascinating video from the PBS special, Dogs that Changed the World, on the changes that took place when foxes were bred for tameness in the former Soviet Union. This was originally posted on Greg Laden's Blog but I had to repost it here.
August 5, 2008
Wildlife Conservation Society researchers in the remote northern jungles of the Republic of Congo have made a startling discovery: approximately 125,000 western lowland gorillas - more than twice the previous worldwide estimate. Coined "the Green Abyss" by scientists and explorers eager to do some…
August 4, 2008
Penn State University biologist Blair Hedges seems to have found his niche: identifying the world's tiniest reptiles and amphibians. Having already found world record holders for the smallest lizard and frog, Hedge's has announced the discovery of the world's smallest snake, Leptotyphlops carlae,…
July 31, 2008
Benny and his buddy Andy (no relation) are going camping this weekend. Benny sent this adorable video postcard to Andy to get him jazzed up about the festivities! See below the fold...
July 31, 2008
An older video that just made its way onto YouTube of the critters that make their homes around hydrothermal vents.
July 28, 2008
This is old but Oysters Garter reminded me of it and I still think it's pretty cool. Also, I love lobsters (see below below).
The Biomimetic Underwater Robot Program based out of Northeastern University seeks to develop "neurotechnology based on the neurophysiology and behavior of animal models…
July 25, 2008
Oh good God. We are reprinting this article in its entirety from the Orange News because it is just too good. Check it!
Curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin after news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village, Xiping township.
"It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it,…
July 24, 2008
Outside of Zooillogix, I serve as the moderator for a zookeeper listserv. 75% of my job seems to be approving or disapproving of classified ads for sugar gliders... I no longer find them cute. Not at all. But the other 25% comprises Q&A between zoo folks about dizzy tapirs, unenriched African…