A manual of zoology for the use of students. With a general introduction on the principles of zoology, by Henry Alleyne Nicholson ...
Red Orbit (Free subscription) | 4 hours ago
Researchers reconstruct the evolution of bat migration with the aid of a mathematical modelNot just birds, but also a few species of bats face a long journey every year. Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behavior of the largest extant family of bats, the so-called "Vespertilionidae"...
Physorg (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
(PhysOrg.com) -- Not just birds, but also a few species of bats face a long journey every year. Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behaviour of the largest extant family of bats, the so-called "Vespertilionidae" with the help of mathematical models. They discovered that the migration...
A DC Birding Blog (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Emperor Penguins / Photo by lin padgham Bird and birding news A study of the fossil record argues that there were six genera and nine species of moas (much lower than other estimates) and that the North and South Islands of New Zealand have been geographically isolated for 20-30 million years. The Puerto Rican Nightjar's range is much than previously estimated ; in all this species has 1,400-2,000...
Physorg (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research could help protect the future of a rare bird in the Galapagos Islands that was an inspiration for Darwin`s theory of evolution by natural selection, scientists report in a paper published in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters today.
Evolution List (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
AUTHOR: Daniel Cressey SOURCE: Nature.com News COMMENTARY: Allen MacNeill As I have noted in several recent blogposts, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published 150 years ago this month . One of Darwin's crucial examples of descent with modification in the Origin was the evolutionary diversification of a group of finches now usually referred to as "Darwin's finches" . In the Origin...
Page 3.14 (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Shakespeare wrote that "past is prologue," but it's not always that easy to read. Brian Switek on Laelaps tells the tale of P. H. Gosse, a man who tried to reconcile the fossil record with the Book of Genesis, at the same time Darwin was writing his Origin of Species. Convincing no one, Gosse estranged even the faithful with his image of God as "a trickster who planted gags to fool...
A DC Birding Blog (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Pileated Woodpecker Pair / Photo by Jerry Downs Bird news New research has finally demonstrated that male Club-winged Manakins "sing" by vibrating specialized feathers together . Male animals, such as birds, fish, and odonates, show such a striking diversity of colors and shapes in part to attract females of their own species but also to help them recognize competitors of their own species...
Red Orbit (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
After a forty year fight to save the brown pelican from extinction, the resilient creature appears to have had a significant comeback.On Wednesday, Interior Department officials announced that they were officially delisting the bird as an endangered species, reported the Associated Press.Now common in Florida, the Gulf and Pacific coasts and the Caribbean, the bird was initially declared an endangered...
Red Orbit (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Journal article:* A remarkable diversity of bone-eating worms (Osedax; Siboglinidae; Annelida). Robert C Vrijenhoek, Shannon B Johnson and Greg W Rouse BMC Biology (in press).Related journal articles:* Rouse GW, Wilson NG, Goffredi SK, Johnson SB, Smart T, Widmer C, Young CM, Vrijenhoek RC (2009) Spawning and development in Osedax boneworms (Siboglinidae, Annelida). Marine Biology 156, 395-405.* Vrijenhoek,...
Laelaps (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
A very lion-like Smilodon , from Ernest Ingersoll's The Life of Animals (1907). For decades after its discovery the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis was depicted as little more than a lion with a short tail and long fangs. Given its size and habits as a large carnivore the connection appeared to make sense, but recent studies have suggested that Smilodon was quite different from the "king of...
The Disillusioned Taxonomist (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Another virtual point goes to J. Velez-Juarbe for guessing that the skull belongs to a caenolestid. Dusky shrew opossum Caenolestes fuliginosus Tomes, 1863 Caenolestidae; Paucituberculata; Mammalia; Chordata Cambridge Zoology Museum June 2008 The caenolestids, shrew opossums, rat opossums, or flap-lips (!) are a family of three extant genera ( Caenolestes, Lestoros and Rhyncholestes ) in their own...
WarblerWatch (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
(Drawing of Bachman's Warbler, left) Here’s three questions I’ve received recently, but I’m too busy with deadlines this week (and, in addition, I’m preparing to teach an Ornithology class at Merritt College that begins soon, I’ve got “one-liners” for answers. 1. Warbler Guy: How many wood-warbler (Parulidae Family) members are there within the A.O.U. checklist...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Many reptiles and amphibians also critically endangered, while up to 70% of plants could be wiped out, say conservationists A fifth of the world's known mammals, a third of its amphibians, more than a quarter of its reptiles and up to 70% of its plants are under threat of extinction according to the red list of threatened species, the latest annual survey compiled by the International Union for Conservation...
L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
Scientists discover the biggest known species of orb-weaving arachnid, and find that another subsists on an unusual diet. On the creepiest day of the year, we have news about one of the creepiest insects around: the spider.
Desdemona Despair (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Farmland birds like skylarks and grey partridges have declined by more than half in the last 30 years according to new Government statistics. By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent Published: 7:00AM GMT 30 Oct 2009 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) English farmland bird index, which covers 19 birds including yellowhammer and woodpigeon, showed a continued trend in declining...
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