In her ECR Spotlight, Lauren Rowsey talks about her research journey that has taken her from Texas to Canada, winter dormancy in #fish & how her mother fostered her love of science by sending her to marine biology camps.
Animals are making headlines with some unusual behavior this summer. Otters are stealing surfboards, orcas are capsizing boats and birds are stealing birdproofing spikes to make their nests.
Roosters may have passed the self-recognition test.
Phys.org reports: "Prior research has suggested that very few animal species have the type of self-awareness known as self-recognition—where they see and understand that an image in a mirror is of themselves rather than another member of the same species."
We know that great apes are super-smart, but, even so, wow: Wounded wild orangutan Rakus "repeatedly applied the liquid onto his cheek for seven minutes. Rakus then smeared the chewed leaves onto his wound until it was fully covered. He continued to feed on the plant for over 30 minutes... researchers saw no sign of infection and the wound closed within five days." https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68942123#primates#orangutan#animals#animalcognition#anthropology#zoology
"These #Crows have counting skills previously only seen in people
"The #Corvids are the first animals other than humans known to produce a deliberate number of calls on command....
"...The researchers also... could` predict the upcoming number of crow calls based on the sound of the first call, suggesting that the birds planned the number of calls in advance..."
Here, wolfie, wolfie, wolfie! Like dogs, wolves recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than strangers, according to a study that has implications both for the story of canine domestication and our broader understanding of the natural world.
In his ECR Spotlight, Jarrod Petersen tells us about his research, which showed that ingesting a large meal does not affect how #boaconstrictors move, and that you can always learn something, even from failed experiments
Do you like #animals? Can you make it to London on the first weekend of December? You should come to #TetZooCon! We have talks, stalls, art exhibitions, workshops, and even a cosplay contest.
Writing about hammerhead worms meant looking at the history of their US invasion, which is how I learned that the invasive species Bipalium adventitium was identified in NY in 1947 (and in California in 1943) by zoologist Libbie Hyman.
At a time when there were few women in zoological research, Hyman literally wrote the book on invertebrates, producing a 6-volume treatise ("The Invertebrates") and 90 articles from 1940-1967.
Do honey #bees adjust their metabolic rate depending on the air temperature? Some thought not but others thought they did. Now Jordan Glass & Jon Harrison show that the bees do adjust their metabolic rates to ensure that their #muscles always run smoothly
Ever wonder how soft bodied creatures exert forces as they move? Now a new theory by @mchtweet & co reveals how starfish feet propel the echinoderms, how worms burrow & how squid propel their tentacles.
Urban light pollution linked to smaller eyes in birds: Study (phys.org)
The bright lights of big cities could be causing an evolutionary adaptation for smaller eyes in some birds, a new study indicates.
Like dogs, wolves recognize familiar human voices (phys.org)
Here, wolfie, wolfie, wolfie! Like dogs, wolves recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than strangers, according to a study that has implications both for the story of canine domestication and our broader understanding of the natural world.