mammals
grrlscientist | September 11, 2008tags: Okapi, Okapia johnstoni, camera trap, zoology, rare mammals, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo rainforest, African Wildlife, Zoological Society of London
This undated image provided by the Zoological Society of London, Thursday, 11 September 2008, shows an okapi, Okapia johnstoni, in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo proving that the species is still surviving there despite more than one decade of civil conflict. The Zoological Society of London says cameras set up in Congo have snapped the first photos of the rare okapi roaming wild. Okapi have…
laelaps | September 7, 2008I loved all the Gary Owens & Eric Boardman dinosaur documentaries (see here, here, and here) when I was a kid, but I think my most favorite was their special on prehistoric mammals. Called "Prehistoric World," the show took a look at the Page Museum in LA and even featured a bit on Dougal Dixon's After Man creatures (including everyone's favorite, the Nightstalker).
The stop-motion mammals seen at the beginning of the show brought back fond memories, as well. They were part of another documentary I saw as a child, although I can no longer remember what it was called. What I do remember,…
laelaps | September 5, 2008
Two Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), photographed at the Philadelphia Zoo.
laelaps | September 3, 2008
An Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), photographed at the Philadelphia Zoo.
edyong | September 2, 2008
Love is all around us and love is in the air, and if I know my mainstream science reporters, today they will have you believe that love is in our genes too. A new report suggests that variation in a gene called AVPR1A has a small but evident influence on the strength of a relationship, the likelihood of tying the knot and the risk of divorce. It's news for humans, but it's well-known that the gene's rodent counterpart affects the bonds between pairs of voles. The story really starts with these small rodents and it's them that I now turn to.
Voles make unexpectedly good animals to study if…
laelaps | September 2, 2008
A grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
laelaps | September 1, 2008
An Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), photographed at the Philadelphia Zoo.
edyong | August 27, 2008 Yesterday, I wrote about selfless capuchin monkeys, who find personal reward in the act of giving other monkeys. The results seemed to demonstrate that monkeys are sensitive to the welfare of their peers, and will make choices that benefit others without any material gain for themselves. Today, another study looks at the same processes in a very different sort of cheeky monkey - human children.
Humans are notable among other animals for our vast capacity for cooperation and empathy. Our concern about the experiences of other people, and our natural aversion to unfair play are the bedrocks…
edyong | August 26, 2008There are some who say that helping others is its own reward, and many biologists would agree. The fact that selfless acts give us a warm glow is evident from personal experience and neurological studies, which find that good deeds trigger activity in parts of the brain involved in feelings of reward. But feeling food by being good isn't just the province of humans - monkeys too get a kick out of the simple act of giving to their fellow simians.
At the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Frans de Waal's team of scientists have been investigating the selfless side of eight brown capuchin…
edyong | August 25, 2008For centuries, farmers have known that their livestock not only gather in large herds but also tend to face the same way when grazing. Experience and folk wisdom offer several possible reasons for this mutual alignment. They stand perpendicularly to the sun's rays in the cool morning to absorb heat through their large flanks, or they stand in the direction of strong winds to avoid being unduly buffeted and chilled.
But cows and sheep don't just line up during chilly spells or high wind. Their motivations for doing so during warm, pleasant and unremarkable weather, or indeed in the dead of…
laelaps | August 20, 2008
An Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), photographed at the Philadelphia zoo.
laelaps | August 18, 2008
A black and rufous sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi), photographed at the Philadelphia zoo.