mammals
laelaps | October 26, 2008
A California sea lion pup (Zalophus californianus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
edyong | October 25, 2008
Animals often show a keen intelligence and many species, from octopuses to crows, can perform problem-solving tasks. But humans are thought to go one step further. We can reflect on our own thoughts and we have knowledge about our knowledge. We can not only solve problems, but we know in advance if we can (or are likely to).
In technical terms, this ability is known as 'metacognition'. It's what students do when they predict how well they will do in an exam when they see the questions. It's what builders do when they work out how long a job will take them to finish. But can animals do…
laelaps | October 25, 2008
From ZooBorns (the only site I know of that regularly causes cute overload).
[Coincidentally, I'm heading to the Bronx Zoo today, in spite of the weather, so I should return with some new photographs.]
laelaps | October 23, 2008
The skull of a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), photographed at a friend's residence in New Jersey. It is now a part of my osteological collection.
laelaps | October 22, 2008
Two white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) sparring, photographed at a friend's residence in New Jersey.
laelaps | October 21, 2008As soon as you have anything to do with the gorilla the fascination of studying him begins to grow on you and you instinctively begin to speak of the gorilla as "he" in a human sense, for he is obviously as well as scientifically akin to man. - Carl Akeley
There are few places that I find as stimulating at the American Museum of Natural History, but the great halls of stuffed animals always put me in a somber mood. The organic parts of the reconstituted creatures were collected long ago, and large metal letters on the wooden frames telling the viewer who had donated the skins to the museum.…
laelaps | October 19, 2008
The skulls of two juvenile, male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), photographed at a friend's residence in New Jersey.
laelaps | October 18, 2008
A Huon tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei), photographed at the Bronx zoo.
And if you need an overload of cute, check out the new website ZooBorns (to which the guys from Zooillogix contribute to!)
edyong | October 17, 2008
In the Ivory Coast, a small stream called Audrenisrou winds its way through the lowland rainforest of the Tai National Park. On the floodplain of this stream, at a site called Nuolo, lie several stones that seem unassuming at first glance. But to the trained eye, they are a window to the past.
Their shape is different to other stones that have been worn away by natural erosion. They have been flaked in systematic ways and many are flattened and sharp. Clearly, they were shaped by hand for a purpose - they are tools. Their creators were not humans, but close relatives who lived in these…
laelaps | October 16, 2008
A Coquerel's Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli), photographed at the Bronx zoo.
edyong | October 15, 2008
It is midday in Senegal and a chimpanzee is on the hunt. Its target is a bushbaby, a small, cute and nocturnal primate that spends its days sheltered in the hollow of a tree, beyond the reach of predators like the chimp. But this hunter is not like others - it is intelligent, it is dextrous, and it has a plan. Snapping off a thin branch, the chimp strips it of twigs, leaves and bark. And with its teeth, it sharpens the tip into a murderous point.
It forcefully jabs its newly fashioned spear into the bushbaby's hiding place, stabbing the hapless animal multiple times. The chimp breaks…
laelaps | October 15, 2008
A pair of ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans), photographed at the Bronx zoo.
laelaps | October 7, 2008
A hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), photographed at the Philadelphia zoo.