Jun 17 2008
More evidence of the rich social life of the great apes.
The . . . study looks at how chimps react to anxiety in other chimps. They will often extend companionship to individuals who are distressed after aggressive conflicts. Orlaith Fraser from Liverpool John Moores University has shown that these acts of consolation help to reduce the stress levels of the ‘victims’ and chimps most frequently console individuals with whom they share valuable social ties.
Jun 03 2008
What has three hearts, blue blood, a doughnut shaped brain, and group sex?
Nope—it’s not the beginning of a joke. It’s a giant squid found frozen in ice. And Australian scientists are about to probe its secrets.
May 20 2008
The New York Times discusses the surprising sophistication of the plump pinniped:
In the public pantheon of marine mammaldom, dolphins are adored, whales revered, and seal pups make old Bond girls swoon. But walruses remain perversely, lumpishly obscure, known mostly for their sing-song linkage with a carpenter, an eggman and goo goo goo joob. To which Dr. Schusterman and his colleagues might well respond with a blast of a Bronx kazoo. Odobenus rosmarus is a magnificent creature, they say, behaviorally, anatomically, acoustically and taxonomically in a category all its own. The walrus belongs to the pinniped suborder, the group of blubbery, fin-footed carnivores that includes seals and sea lions.
But whereas there are 19 species in the family of so-called true seals, and 14 in the family of fur seals and sea lions, the walrus is the only living representative of the family Odobenidae, those that walk with their teeth. And though the walrus is an Arctic species and thus much harder to study in the wild than the elephant seals and sea lions that flop onto the beaches of Northern California, scientists are gathering evidence that Odobenus is the most cognitively and socially sophisticated of all pinnipeds.
May 13 2008
The Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences have been posted on Altweb. Some of the highlights include:
The proceedings give a comprehensive, global look at the field of humane science.
Related: Video of an animal memorial service from the 6th World Congress.
May 13 2008
WNYC’s Radio Lab program looks at research into laughter among humans, rats, and chimps in the segment “Is Laughter Just a Human Thing?”
Be sure to see our previous entry on laughing rats.
Feb 27 2008
From the New York Times:
Imagine the Book of All Species: a single volume made up of one-page descriptions of every species known to science. On one page is the blue-footed booby. On another, the Douglas fir. Another, the oyster mushroom. If you owned the Book of All Species, you would need quite a bookshelf to hold it. Just to cover the 1.8 million known species, the book would have to be more than 300 feet long. And you’d have to be ready to expand the bookshelf strikingly, because scientists estimate there are 10 times more species waiting to be discovered.
It sounds surreal, and yet scientists are writing the Book of All Species. Or to be more precise, they are building a Web site called the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org). On Thursday its authors, an international team of scientists, will introduce the first 30,000 pages, and within a decade, they predict, they will have the other 1.77 million.
Feb 14 2008
This article seemed appropriate for Valentine’s Day.
Gorillas have been caught on camera for the first time performing face-to-face intercourse.
Humans and bonobos were the only primates thought to mate in this manner. And while researchers have observed wild gorillas engaged in such an act, it had never been photographed.
Happy Valentine’s Day—to members of all species who are in love.
And as a bonus, here are some stories and photos of interspecies love.
Jan 29 2008
The headlines says it all—this is remarkable and simply joyful.Dolphin Play Bubble Rings - More amazing videos are a click away
Jan 16 2008
Well, now we know that orangutans laugh . . . but have you ever heard a rat laugh?
Free Science Lectures has video of the giggling rodents.
Jan 14 2008
Some of the world’s last mountain gorillas are threatened not only by poachers and hunters, but by an ongoing war. Just last year (2007), ten gorillas were shot and killed in Virunga National Park, and, with armed groups taking up residence in the sanctuary, rangers are unable to protect them and fear that many more are dead. And now the rangers themselves are potential targets for roving militias, soldiers, poachers, and charcoal traders. Many have been killed or kidnapped.
Now the rangers are taking their plight to the blogosphere, with hopes that increased exposure will help in their fight to save the mountain gorillas.
You can follow their postings here.
Also: Wired News article: Gorilla Sanctuary Is Congo War Front