animals
omnibrain | June 13, 2007"Pavlov's Cockroach: Classical Conditioning of Salivation in an Insect," sounds like a great paper and seriously...salivation in the cockroach! that's great stuff ;)
But this is certainly not the first time classical conditioning has been demonstrated in other animals. Heck, Eric Kandel (among others) won the Nobel prize for his work on classical conditioning and learning in Aplysia (sea slugs). If you're really excited about the salivation component of Classical Conditioning here's a little summary from Medical News Today :)
A new study, led by Makoto Mizunami and colleagues at Tohoku…
omnibrain | June 12, 2007Ever see a rat tickled? You can now - and evidently they laugh :)
[via scienceblog]
Here's another video of rats playing with their owner. I knew they could be friendly but this is something new to me. I didn't know that they could have so much personality - I was pretty sure they just crept around sewers or sat in a nest all day.
omnibrain | June 11, 2007We all know, thanks to Dan Simons and Chris Chabris (unless you've been living under a rock), that if we're really paying attention to something we can miss something else entirely... like a gorilla walking into the middle of a room and banging on its chest. Check out the video here. (Clearly this won't work for you now since you know what to look for, but there are some other examples on Dan Simons'' site that you can check out as well.)
In any case ... on to the main story here which is really the complete opposite of Inattentional Blindness. This time the gorilla suit was meant to bring…
voltagegate | June 9, 2007Learn all about the vacated habitats of the river dolphins courtesy of the EDGE Blog.
voltagegate | June 6, 2007This is just what our blue crab populations need:
Chinese mitten crabs, first reported in the Chesapeake Bay, are more widespread than initially thought. Four crabs have now been caught in Delaware Bay during the last week of May 2007, and may occur in other waters of the U.S. east coast.
In total, seven adult male mitten crabs have been documented from the two bays since 2005. Prior to this, the potentially invasive species had never been recorded from coastal waters of the eastern United States.
The mitten crab is native to eastern Asia and has already invaded Europe and the western United…
omnibrain | June 4, 2007Can dogs perform deduction? Evidently so...
The provocative new experiment indicated that dogs can do something that previously only humans, including infants, have been shown capable of doing: decide how to imitate a behavior based on the specific circumstances in which the action takes place.
Original Story
voltagegate | June 3, 2007It's the last day of Red Panda Week, and I know you're wondering: What would it be like to live with red pandas?
Have a look:
voltagegate | June 2, 2007The traditionalist Chinese, for all their deep philosophies of unity and transcendence, sure love to slaughter rare and beautiful animals for their own vanity.
Apparently, it is still acceptable in China to give hats made from the fur of poached red pandas as traditional gifts for special occasions.
From the BBC:
Red pandas are poached for their fur or sold as pets. Red panda fur is used to make hats and clothing in China. In the past red panda hats were given as wedding presents because they were seen as good luck charms. This tradition continues in some regions.
Red panda populations can…
voltagegate | June 2, 2007
Brian of Laelaps was kind enough to contribute some beautiful pics of his favorite critter (as if you couldn't tell by his banner), photos he took at the Philly and Bronx Zoo.
Thanks Brian!
All images courtesy of Brian Switek. Please ask permission before using these images elsewhere.
voltagegate | June 1, 2007Photo: mindrec
We established that the giant and red panda co-inhabit the same habitat, but exploit very specific parts of that main habitat, different microhabitats. Giants stick to the low lands, feeding in sparse forest, while the reds alight the long branches of rhododenrons, stripping leaves from branches.
They are said to have a sympatric relationship, meaning that both pandas became separate species (speciation) while existing in the same area. Allopatry is the opposite process; it describes speciation by environmental isolation.
When ecologists and evolutionary biologists make…
voltagegate | May 31, 2007Many would like to paint evolution by natural selection as a vicious idea, drawing upon our fears of purposelessness and elitism by highlighting the misleading phrase, "survival of the fittest."
It can be a scary idea when applied to our society; we don't want to think of the disabled and handicapped as unfit in their environment. It seems to be a cold view of the world, devoid of compassion.
I can understand the apprehension. Fortunately, evolution is a biological process, not a cultural/societal process, so when it is superimposed on societal structure, it does not exactly fit the bill.…
omnibrain | May 31, 2007Heaven forbid animals drink some soda! and then enjoy it! This is probably the least bothersome form of animal testing out there. Trust me... animals looooove sugar!
Here's the snippet from the NYT article:
Under pressure from animal rights advocates, two soft drink giants, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have agreed to stop directly financing research that uses animals to test or develop their products, except where such testing is required by law.
Researchers at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought the assurances after discovering studies financed by the companies that used animals…
voltagegate | May 30, 2007Until very recently, no direct ancestors of the red panda (Ailurus) were known. Most paleontologists link Ailurus with previous, raccoon-like (procyonoid) fossil animals - Cynarctis, Phlaocyon, Aletocyon - mainly by the similarities in their molars.
A closer relative was described in the 1970's, an animal 50% larger than Ailurus found in Europe and North America, appropriately named Parailurus anglicus. Researchers concluded from these fossils that the red panda's ancestry was based solely in North America:
Intermediate forms between Parailurus and Ailurus are not known. The smaller size…
voltagegate | May 30, 2007Meet Futa and Futa Jr. Dad stands up, the baby tries and everyone freaks out.
voltagegate | May 29, 2007Morphologically, the red panda is a strange little furball. They are categorized with carnivores because of their powerful set of reinforced jaws, but the only meat the red panda will ever eat is the occasional bug. Like the giant panda, bamboo makes up most of its diet, one of the least nutritious foods on the planet.
But the red panda and its ancestors have been eating bamboo (and other similar monocots) for so long, that a small wristbone called a radial sesamoid (highlighted in red below) has become modified into an extra "thumb," assisting the panda in grasping and stripping bamboo…
voltagegate | May 28, 2007Photo by: Chief Trent
The Red Panda is definitely in the running for the most Pokémon-like animal in the history of the world. My internal Cute-O-Meter runs high every time I come across one in the zoo.
But the taxonomic category these little cuties occupy is perhaps one of the most disputed in classification. Most scientists place them with procyonids, the raccoon family. But some scientists are not satisfied. Red pandas exhibit many of the characteristics of bears (ursids) as well; reflected in one of their common names, the catbear (not to be confused with the binturong, known as the…
voltagegate | May 22, 2007Amazing video. Lionesses snag a water cape buffalo calf and fight over it with crocs until the herd returns to scare them off.
A Brawl In The Safari - Watch more free videos
voltagegate | May 21, 2007Between upcoming graduation and finals this week, I've been a bit slow to do my share of the final counts from the Blogger Bioblitz (B3), but I finally found some time this morning.
First, some meta data:
50 bloggers signed up for the event
32 posted about their bioblitz
17 data sheets for analysis
Invertebrate species breakdown:
ARTHROPODS: 87+
Insects: 71+
Lepidopterans: 32+
Dipterans: 9+
Odontans: 9+
Hymenopterans: 7+
Hemipterans: 5+
Coleopterans: 3+
Collembolans: 2
Ephemeropterans: 2
Neuropterans: 1
Dictyopterans: 1
Arachnids: 10+
Aranaeans: 5+
Acari: 4+
Opiliones: 1
Diplopods…
voltagegate | May 16, 2007This post discusses an article published in PLoS Biology reviewing Cornell Ecologist Josh Donlan's idea of importing African analogs of extinct North American vertebrates like the American lion and the mammoth in the hopes that filling these niches will restore and stabilize lost ecosystems. Two questions from my end: Are these non-native organisms truly analogous to their extinct American cousins and is it too late to make such a bold move?
Ecologists have been debating about whether or not they know enough to begin rebuilding long-lost ecosystems by replacing extinct large vertebrates with…
omnibrain | May 1, 2007
A male chimpanzee may beg for food from another chimpanzee by gesturing with an extended arm and open hand.
But the same gesture may also be used to ask a female chimpanzee for sex, or between two males as a sign of reconciliation after a fight, said primatologist Frans de Waal, a member of the research team.
"Typically they may use it for food ... but they may use the same gesture for something totally different, so for instance a male may invite a female for sex by holding out an open hand to her," Dr de Waal said.
Soo... well... do female chimps sometimes get the wrong idea and give the…