behavior
laelaps | April 19, 2010
Two giant anteaters fight it out. On the left, the individuals lash out at each other with their enormous claws, and on the right they posture at each other (with the dominant animal, with the upright and puffed-out tail, on the right). From Kruetz et al 2009.
In the northern state of Roraima in Brazil, small plantations of the black wattle tree (Acacia mangium) serve up plenty of food to carpenter ants and other insects, and the variety of six-legged pests has attracted numerous giant anteaters. The trouble is that these immense xenarthrans don't typically get along very well.
As…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology, scientology, religion, cults, beliefs, L Ron Hubbard, television, Smoothmedia, streaming video
This astonishingly disturbing video is by Smooth media and is about cult of Scientology.
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: iPad: The World's Most Expensive Cat Toy, iPad, Macintosh, Apple, laptops, technology, IT, cultural observation, social commentary, humor, funny, pets, cats, streaming video
This cat is demonstrating the value of an iPad as a cat toy. Who cares if it's a bit on the expensive side, since the cat obviously enjoys playing with it?
Sure, it's probably the most controversial gadget that Apple has ever come out with, but come on, your cat will love you for it. Don't be cheap when it comes to cat toys.
grrlscientist | April 14, 2010tags: The REAL Gay Agenda, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, LGBT, politics, cultural observation, social commentary, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, streaming video
You hear a lot about the gay agenda in political talk. If you ever wondered what the hell they were talking about, well, watch this revealing video (apparently, it is based upon a real-life email string).
This video (which forgot to mention cruising gay bars and watching porn) was created by Sean Chapin.
grrlscientist | April 9, 2010tags: Stouffer's, frozen microwave meals, single-serving meals, suicide prevention tips, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Onion News Network, ONN, streaming video
Stouffer's, the company that manufactures frozen microwavable meals, now includes suicide prevention tips on all single-serving dinners whether you enjoy eating your veal parmigiana or beef stroganoff alone.
grrlscientist | April 8, 2010tags: evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, molecular ecology, personality, novelty seeking, exploratory behavior, dopamine receptor, dopamine receptor D4 gene, DRD4 gene polymorphism, ornithology, birds, Great Tit, Parus major, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
Bold or cautious? Individuals with a particular gene variant are very curious --
but only in some populations.
Image: Henk Dikkers.
Research suggests that personality variations are heritable in humans and other animal species, and there are many hypotheses as to why differences in personality…
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Sex, Drugs and HIV -- Let's Get Rational, behavior, disease, prostitution, gay men, drug addicts, sex, STD, HIV, AIDS, poverty, medicine, public health, Compassion Conundrum, Elizabeth Pisani, TEDTalks, streaming video
Armed with bracing logic, wit and her "public-health nerd" glasses, Elizabeth Pisani reveals the myriad of inconsistencies in today's political systems that prevent our dollars from effectively fighting the spread of HIV. Her research with at-risk populations -- from junkies in prison to sex workers on the street in Cambodia -- demonstrates the sometimes counter-intuitive…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Fur Person, humor, funny, weird, behavior, cat, pets, animals, streaming video
This short video is really amazing: it captures a cat standing on its hind legs to get a better view of what's happening outdoors.
laelaps | April 6, 2010
A leopard (Panthera pardus). Image from Wikipedia.
SK-54 is a curious fossil. The 1.5 million year old skullcap represents a juvenile Paranthropus robustus, one of the heavy-jawed hominins which lived in prehistoric South Africa, but there is something that makes this skull fragment particularly special. Near one of the sutures along the back of the skull are two neat puncture marks, the hallmark of a leopard.
Even though it was initially proposed that SK-54 had been murdered by another australopithecine wielding a weapon of bone or horn, in the late 1960's the paleontologist C.K. Brain…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: How to Combat Modern Slavery, philosophy, morality, ethics, behavior, poverty, culture, slavery, human rights, human values, Kevin Bales, TEDTalks, streaming video
In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research -- and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.
Kevin Bales is the co-founder of Free the Slaves, whose mission is to end all forms of human slavery within the next 25…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010tags: satire, humor, funny, weird, behavior, stereotypes, women, men, Untucked Films, Harvard Sailing Team, streaming video
This video is a satire of how women behave when they get together. However, this is highly stereotyped since I've never acted like this, not have any women whom I know. Who are these mythological women? Do you know them? Or are they sitcom women only?
And of course, what's good for the goose is good for the gander (or is it the other way around?);
Website: Harvard Sailing Team, Produced by Untucked Films, directed by Jonathan Emmerling, director of photography Pat…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010tags: gorilla, death, mortality, science, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Onion News Network, ONN, streaming video
Tulane University researchers have successfully taught a captive gorilla that he will die one day. The gorilla, named Quigley, is now able to experience the crippling fear of impending death previously only accessible to humans.
grrlscientist | April 3, 2010tags: cat, pets, animals, stalking kitty, YouTube, parody, funny, humor, fucking hilarious, streaming video
This amusing little video shows a kitty stalking the photographer as she peeks around a corner in the room with her camera. In nearly every shot we see, the cat is not moving, but is magically closer to the photographer than in the previous shot. The last few seconds are especially amusing.
laelaps | April 2, 2010
A margay (Leopardus wiedii). From Wikipedia.
Even if they spend years in the field, researchers rarely witness predation on primates. Cats, birds, and other hunters regularly feed on primate species, but what we know about the habits of primate-hunters often comes from bones and fingernails picked out of predator droppings. Every now and again, though, someone is in just the right place at just the right time to observe a predator attempt to catch a primate for dinner, and one recent observation in the Amazon has revealed an ingenious hunting technique employed by a small spotted cat.…
grrlscientist | April 1, 2010tags: marshmallow peeps, Optometry Peeps, eyecare, easter, humor, funny, silly, health, streaming video
This is an amusing and creative video of Marshmallow Peeps Bunnies having an eye exam.
grrlscientist | March 30, 2010tags: marshmallow peeps, The Peeps, The Birds, easter, parody, humor, funny, silly, movies, streaming video
This is a hilarious trailer for the spoof, "The Peeps": a parody of Alfred Peepcock's ... erm, Hitchcock's ... "The Birds." This film documents the biggest marshmallow threat to humanity since the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
laelaps | March 30, 2010
Spotted hyenas giggling over an antelope spine. Courtesy BMC Ecology.
For spotted hyenas, a laugh can speak volumes about an individual.
Despite being portrayed as stupid scavengers who rely on the leftovers of lion prides, hyenas are highly intelligent and social predators. They communicate with each other through an array of whoops, yowls, grunts, screams, and giggles, and by using these calls an individual can call in help to run lions off a carcass or signal that it's time to beat a hasty retreat if the odds don't look as favorable. Yet there is more to a hyena call than just its…
grrlscientist | March 29, 2010tags: freedom of speech, freedom of publishing, Philip Pullman, books, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, streaming video
Philip Pullman responds to the jackasses and crybabies of the world with regards to their whiny complaints about the title of his new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. His answer succinctly addresses the larger issue of freedom of publishing/presses/speech. My response? AMEN!
Philip Pullman, addressing an audience at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, on 28 March 2010, was asked about whether his latest book, The Good Man Jesus and the…
grrlscientist | March 29, 2010tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, animal behavior, molecular ecology, parental care, mating systems, monogamy, sexual selection, frogs, poison dart frogs, Dendrobatidae, Ranitomeya, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper, journal club
Peruvian mimic poison frog, Ranitomeya imitator.
Image: Jason Brown [larger view]
To know the breeding system is to know the genetic architecture of a species.
To know the evolution of a breeding system is to know how evolution works ..
~ Lewis & Crowe, Evolution (1955)
Genetic tests have revealed the…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2010tags: cat enjoying attention, Trololo Cat, Eduard Trololo Khil, internet meme, YouTube meme, parody, funny, humor, fucking hilarious, television, streaming video
This video features our favorite boyfriend -- right, my peeps? -- Eduard "Trololo" Khill, along with views of a kitty who is watching, open-mouthed in astonishment at what she sees and hears.
Here's a few more links to Eduard:
More from Eduard "Mr Trolololo" Khill (My New Boyfriend)
Eduard Trololo Khil Addresses the People of the World!
Scientology X(enu) Factor Russian auditions 2010
And my favorite of all:
Captain Kirk Deals with…