Ethology
Yet another unexpected evolutionary twist. Normally, sperm is in direct competition with all the rest of sperm so that the strongest, fleetest wins. But in the diving beetles, ("tiny but deadly predators, at least if you're a tadpole or baby fish. More than 4,000 species live in freshwater spots around the world. Even in deserts of Arizona, where study researcher Dawn Higginson works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona's Center for Insect Science, the beetles thrive in cattle water tanks") the sperm team up and swim attached. Why? Click here to find out.
Ollie, the fearful looking Jack Russell in the photo has a lot to be fearful about. He was on a walk with his owner last week in England, when a Harris Hawk swooped down and ripped out his tongue. The preliminary recommendation by the vets is that he be put down because he will be unable to feed himself. A few days later a two year-old boy was in a playground in England and was attacked by a Harris Hawk who tore up his face and almost blinded him. In this case the hawk's teenage owner was unable to control him.
The Harris Hawk is a Latin American bird; the only hawk to hunt cooperatively. It is imported into Britain to be raised for falconry as it is the easiest to train and the most social.
However, it seems that there are some who are purchasing the hawks for another purpose. Now that there are more and more regulations in the UK forbidding people from keeping Pit Bulls, it seems that there has been an increase in Harris Hawk ownership by people who have switched from training attack dogs to training attack birds.
The Harris Hawk is a Latin American bird; the only hawk to hunt cooperatively. It is imported into Britain to be raised for falconry as it is the easiest to train and the most social.
However, it seems that there are some who are purchasing the hawks for another purpose. Now that there are more and more regulations in the UK forbidding people from keeping Pit Bulls, it seems that there has been an increase in Harris Hawk ownership by people who have switched from training attack dogs to training attack birds.
"...While diving in the semi-tropical region of Amami Oshima, roughly 80 ft below sea level, Ookata spotted something he had never seen. And as it turned out, no one else had seen it before either.
On the seabed a geometric, circular structure measuring roughly 6.5 ft in diameter had been precisely carved from sand. It consisted of multiple ridges, symmetrically jutting out from the center, and appeared to be the work of an underwater artist, carefully working with tools. For its resemblance to crop circles, Ookata dubbed his new finding a “mystery circle,” and enlisted some colleagues at NHK to help him investigate..."
What Ookata had found was the matrimonial suite of the fugu (the notorious poisonous blow fish that provides the killer sushi). This is a fascinating story (thanks Bonnie, for the link!!!) which connects art, sex and nature.
Click here for the whole story on Spoon & Tamago.
On the seabed a geometric, circular structure measuring roughly 6.5 ft in diameter had been precisely carved from sand. It consisted of multiple ridges, symmetrically jutting out from the center, and appeared to be the work of an underwater artist, carefully working with tools. For its resemblance to crop circles, Ookata dubbed his new finding a “mystery circle,” and enlisted some colleagues at NHK to help him investigate..."
What Ookata had found was the matrimonial suite of the fugu (the notorious poisonous blow fish that provides the killer sushi). This is a fascinating story (thanks Bonnie, for the link!!!) which connects art, sex and nature.
Click here for the whole story on Spoon & Tamago.
"The scientific community is in a flap over a new study that shows that crows are just as bright as children under eight.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge presented the crows and children between the ages of four and ten with a version of a riddle commonly referred to as “Aesop’s fable”.
This tells of crows that learnt to quench their thirst by dropping pebbles in a partially filled jug of water to make the level rise.
The team gave the crows and children a similar task.
They were given a range of objects they could drop into a tube of water to push a token or treat to the top.
Amazingly, the crows were able to solve the puzzle after about five tries – the same number of goes children up to the age of eight took.
However, children at around that age and older out-performed the feathery creatures and solved the problem on their first try."
Click here for the research article.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge presented the crows and children between the ages of four and ten with a version of a riddle commonly referred to as “Aesop’s fable”.
This tells of crows that learnt to quench their thirst by dropping pebbles in a partially filled jug of water to make the level rise.
The team gave the crows and children a similar task.
They were given a range of objects they could drop into a tube of water to push a token or treat to the top.
Amazingly, the crows were able to solve the puzzle after about five tries – the same number of goes children up to the age of eight took.
However, children at around that age and older out-performed the feathery creatures and solved the problem on their first try."
Click here for the research article.
From an article in Wired, another example of the fascinating intricacy of evolution:
"...It’s an incredibly bizarre system,” said study co-author Michael Goodisman, a Georgia Institute of Technology sociobiologist who described the trick Feb. 2 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. “A queen produces males that are completely unrelated to her, that have none of her genetic material.”
Longhorn crazy ants, or Paratrechina longicornis, are so widespread that scientists don’t even know where they first came from. They form series of connected colonies, called “supercolonies,” that greatly disrupt ecosystems they invade, including human farms and homes.
To discover how crazy ant queens deal with a shortage of mates, Goodisman’s team formed 21 laboratory colonies, each with one queen and some workers. After three months, the researchers collected pupae of workers, males and queens, then analyzed their DNA.
Workers had one set of genes each from both mother and father, as normal. But females were exact copies of their queen mother, while males were clones of their fathers.
Because both the queens’ offspring are genetically unrelated, they can mate with one another without the consequences of inbreeding.
“It’s cheating, in a genetic sense, but this weird system allows [crazy ants] to overcome severe restrictions,” said evolutionary geneticist Jürgen Gadau of Arizona State University, who wasn’t involved in the study..."
"...It’s an incredibly bizarre system,” said study co-author Michael Goodisman, a Georgia Institute of Technology sociobiologist who described the trick Feb. 2 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. “A queen produces males that are completely unrelated to her, that have none of her genetic material.”
Longhorn crazy ants, or Paratrechina longicornis, are so widespread that scientists don’t even know where they first came from. They form series of connected colonies, called “supercolonies,” that greatly disrupt ecosystems they invade, including human farms and homes.
To discover how crazy ant queens deal with a shortage of mates, Goodisman’s team formed 21 laboratory colonies, each with one queen and some workers. After three months, the researchers collected pupae of workers, males and queens, then analyzed their DNA.
Workers had one set of genes each from both mother and father, as normal. But females were exact copies of their queen mother, while males were clones of their fathers.
Because both the queens’ offspring are genetically unrelated, they can mate with one another without the consequences of inbreeding.
“It’s cheating, in a genetic sense, but this weird system allows [crazy ants] to overcome severe restrictions,” said evolutionary geneticist Jürgen Gadau of Arizona State University, who wasn’t involved in the study..."