http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/animal-science-blog.html Animal science blog from biology-blog.com, the place for information. Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT en-us http://www.biology-blog.com/images/blogs/animal-science-blog.jpg http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/animal-science-blog.html 153 97 http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2011/dragonflies-the-flying-aces-of-the-insect-world.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2011/dragonflies-the-flying-aces-of-the-insect-world.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Next time you see a dragonfly, try to watch it catch its next meal on the go. Good luck! "Unless we film it in high speed, we can't see whether it caught the prey, but when it gets back to its perch, if we see it chewing, we know that it was successful," says Stacey Combes, a biomechanist at Harvard University. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), she and her team are studying how dragonflies pull off complicated aerial feats that include hunting and mating in mid-air. She set up her lab in typical "dragonfly country"........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/an-eye-gene-colors-butterfly-wings-red.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/an-eye-gene-colors-butterfly-wings-red.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By using the same signal, they send a stronger message: DON'T EAT US! . Now several research teams that include Smithsonian researchers in Panama, have discovered that Heliconius butterflies mimic each other's red wing patterns through changes in the same gene........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/salt-marsh-sparrows-beat-the-heat.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/salt-marsh-sparrows-beat-the-heat.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Birds use their bills largely to forage and eat, and these behaviors strongly influence the shape and size of a bird's bill. But the bill can play an important role in regulating the bird's body temperature by acting as a radiator for excess heat. A team of researchers have observed that because of this, high summer temperatures have been a strong influence in determining bill size in some birds, especially species of sparrows that favor salt marshes. The team's findings are published in the scientific journal Ecography, July 20........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/termites-digestive-system.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/termites-digestive-system.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT One of the peskiest household pests, while disastrous to homes, could prove to be a boon for cars, as per a Purdue University study. Mike Scharf, the O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Chair in Molecular Physiology and Urban Entomology, said his laboratory has discovered a cocktail of enzymes from the guts of termites that appears to be better at getting around the barriers that inhibit fuel production from woody biomass. The Scharf Laboratory observed that enzymes in termite guts are instrumental in the insects' ability to break down the wood they eat........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/arrival-of-whooping-crane.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2011/arrival-of-whooping-crane.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT After an 88-year-long hiatus North America's tallest bird, the statuesque whooping crane (Grus americana), is once again on exhibit at the Bird House at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park. An 11-year-old male whooping crane named Rocky left Homosassa Springs State Park in Florida and is now on exhibit in the nation's capital. Whooping cranes are one of only two crane species native to the United States. There are only eight other zoos in the U.S. which exhibit these birds........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/6-2011/where-will-grizzly-bears-roam.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/6-2011/where-will-grizzly-bears-roam.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT The independent evaluation, written by WCS Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. John Weaver, is a compilation and synthesis of the latest information on these species � and how climate change may affect them � from 30 biologists in the region and from nearly 300 scientific papers. In addition, Weaver spent four months hiking and riding horseback through these remote roadless areas to evaluate their importance for conservation........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/6-2011/life-history-traits-may-affect-dna-mutation-rates.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/6-2011/life-history-traits-may-affect-dna-mutation-rates.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT For the first time, researchers have used large-scale DNA sequencing data to investigate a long-standing evolutionary assumption: DNA mutation rates are influenced by a set of species-specific life-history traits. These traits include metabolic rate and the interval of time between an individual's birth and the birth of its offspring, known as generation time. The team of scientists led by Kateryna Makova, a Penn State University associate professor of biology, and first author Melissa Wilson Sayres, a graduate student, used whole-genome sequence data to test life-history hypotheses for 32 mammalian species, including humans. For each species, they studied the mutation rate, estimated by the rate of substitutions in neutrally evolving DNA segments -- chunks of genetic material that are not subject to natural selection. They then correlated their estimations with several indicators of life history. The results of the research would be reported in the journal Evolution on 13 June 2011........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2011/solving-mouse-genome-dilemma.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2011/solving-mouse-genome-dilemma.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Laboratory research has always been limited in terms of what conclusions researchers can safely extrapolate from animal experiments to the human population as a whole. A number of promising findings in mice have not held up under further experimentation, in part because laboratory animals, bred from a limited genetic foundation, don't provide a good representation of how genetic diversity manifests in the broader human population........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2011/zombie-ants-have-fungus-on-the-brain.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2011/zombie-ants-have-fungus-on-the-brain.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Tropical carpenter ants (Camponotus leonardi) live high up in the rainforest canopy. When infected by a parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) the behaviour of the ants is dramatically changed. They become erratic and zombie-like, and are manipulated by the fungus into dying at a spot that provides optimal conditions for fungal reproduction. New research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology, looks at altered behaviour patterns in Zombie ants in Thailand and shows how the fungus manipulates ant behaviour........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/killer-whales-in-antarctic-waters-prefer-weddell-seals.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/killer-whales-in-antarctic-waters-prefer-weddell-seals.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT NOAA's Fisheries Service researchers studying the cooperative hunting behavior of killer whales in Antarctic waters observed the animals favoring one type of seal over all other available food sources, as per a research studyreported in the journal Marine Mammal Science. Scientists Robert Pitman and John Durban from NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., observed killer whales hunting in ice floes, off the western Antarctic Peninsula during January of 2009. While documenting the whales' behavior of deliberately creating waves to wash seals off ice floes, the scientists noticed Weddell seals as their primary target, despite the availability of other prey species, especially the more abundant crabeater seals........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/major-influence-for-migrating-birds.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/major-influence-for-migrating-birds.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Instinct and the annual increase of daylight hours have long been believed to be the triggers for birds to begin their spring migration. Researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, however, have observed that that may not be the case. Scientists have focused on how warming trends in temperate breeding areas disrupt the sensitive ecology of migratory birds. This new research shows that changes in rainfall on the tropical wintering grounds could be equally disruptive. The team's findings appear in scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, today, March 30........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/whale-and-dolphin-death-toll.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/whale-and-dolphin-death-toll.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 devastated the Gulf of Mexico ecologically and economically. However, a newly released study published in Conservation Letters reveals that the true impact of the disaster on wildlife appears to be gravely underestimated. The study argues that fatality figures based on the number of recovered animal carcasses will not give a true death toll, which appears to be 50 times higher than believed........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/research-brings-habitat-models-into-the-future.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/research-brings-habitat-models-into-the-future.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Models of wildlife habitat now can monitor changes over time more accurately and more easily, thanks to Michigan State University research. "Monitoring and projecting future changes are essential for sustainable management of coupled human and natural systems, including wildlife habitat," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at MSU. "Innovative computer models are urgently needed for effective monitoring and projection"........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/wild-birds-and-spread-of-bird-flu.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/wild-birds-and-spread-of-bird-flu.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Wild migratory birds may indeed play a role in the spread of bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used satellites, outbreak data and genetics to uncover an unknown link in Tibet among wild birds, poultry and the movement of the often-deadly virus........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/more-prominent-role-for-zoos.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/more-prominent-role-for-zoos.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Of around seven land vertebrate species whose survival in the wild is threatened one is also kept in captivity. These and other data on the protection of species in zoos and aquaria have now been revealed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock. Writing in the journal Science, the team of scientists and the International Species Information System (ISIS) advocate the establishment of targeted captive breeding programmes to supplement the protection of animals in the wild. To do this, zoos should team up in networks and shelter these animals, as a form of life insurance, until they can be released back into the wild........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/accountants-of-the-animal-kingdom.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/accountants-of-the-animal-kingdom.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT A puzzling example of altruism in nature has been debunked with scientists showing that purple-crowned fairy wrens are in reality cunningly planning for their own future when they assist in raising other birds' young by balancing the amount of assistance they give with the benefits they expect to receive in the future........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/gender-roles-in-animals.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/gender-roles-in-animals.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT In a recent study published in "Animal Behaviour", biology scientists Kristina Karlsson Green and Josefin Madjidian at Lund University in Sweden have shown that animals' and plants' traits and behaviour in sexual conflicts are coloured by a human viewpoint. They want to raise awareness of the issue and provoke discussion among their colleagues in order to promote objectivity and broaden the research field........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/dairy-farmer-finds-unusual-forage-grass.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/dairy-farmer-finds-unusual-forage-grass.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grass breeder has rediscovered a forage grass that seems just right for today's intensive rotational grazing. A farmer's report of an unusual forage grass led Michael Casler, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist at the agency's U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wis., to identify the grass as meadow fescue. Meadow fescue has been long forgotten, eventhough it was popular after being introduced about 50 to 60 years before tall fescue........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/casey-dunn-to-receive-nsf-waterman-award.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/casey-dunn-to-receive-nsf-waterman-award.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named its awardee for this year's Alan T. Waterman Award: Casey Dunn, a biologist at Brown University. Dunn's work involves genome analyses to better understand relationships between groups of animals.andnbsp; He investigates the origins of biological complexity through work with deep-sea creatures called siphonophores. His research holds clues about how complex multicellular organisms, including humans, were formed........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/host-change-alters-toxic-cocktail.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2011/host-change-alters-toxic-cocktail.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:49 GMT Leaf beetles fascinate us because of their amazing variety of shapes and rich coloring. Their larvae, however, are dangerous plant pests. Larvae of the leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica attack two different tree species: willow and birch. To fend off predator attacks, the beetle larvae produce toxic butyric acid esters or salicylaldehyde, whose precursors they ingest with their leafy food. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Gera number of, now observed that a fundamental change in the genome has emerged in beetles that have specialized on birch: The activity of the salicylaldehyde producing enzyme salicyl alcohol oxidase (SAO) is missing in these populations, whereas it is present in willow feeders. For birch beetles the loss of this enzyme and hereby the loss of salicylaldehyde is advantageous: the enzyme is not needed anymore because its substrate salicyl alcohol is only present in willow leaves, but not in birch. Birch beetles can therefore save resources instead of costly producing the enzyme. First and foremost, however, the loss of salicylaldehyde also means that birch feeding populations do not betray themselves to their own enemies anymore, who can trace them because of the odorous substance. (PNAS Early Edition, DOI 10.1073/pnas.1013846108)........ ]]>