Ecology & Zoology

Périgord Truffles: The Science Of The French Culinary 'Black Diamond'

The black Périgord truffle is a fungus that grows underground around the roots of oak and hazelnut trees in winter. It has become a staple during holidays in France, where cooks slip bits of it under the skin of roasting turkeys to add a luxurious flavor. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 4 2013 - 12:21pm

Sustainable Hunting Will Boost Lion Numbers

Hunters are often regarded as the enemy by animal activists but in reality the opposite is true; legal hunting helps sustain populations, even trophy hunting.   Trophy hunting occurs in 9 of the 28 African countries that have wild populations of lions. Hu ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2013 - 5:51pm

Testosterone In Males May Enhance Desire To Sing- But Not Song Quality

Many men have been a little overexcited on the dance floor and showed off moves that have never been seen before. Blame alcohol.  Testosterone has a similar effect. A little too much and the frequency of overzealous wooing behavior may increase, but the q ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 1 2014 - 10:30am

100 Million Years: Oldest Evidence Of Reproduction In Flowering Plants Discovered

The oldest evidence of sexual reproduction in a flowering plant – a cluster of 18 tiny flowers from the Cretaceous Period, with one of them in the process of making some new seeds for the next generation- has been found in a 100-million-year old piece of ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 3 2014 - 10:49am

Peeing Dogs Align With The Earth’s Magnetic Field

What does science discover when 70 dogs are allowed to relieve themselves in the open country without being on a leash? That they have something in common; dogs prefer to do their business while in a body-alignment along the magnetic north-south axis- but ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 6 2014 - 6:01am

Ectobius Cockroach To Retake North America Again After 49 Million Years?

The cockroach in the genus Ectobius is an invasive organism and the most common cockroach inhabiting a large region from northernmost Europe to southernmost Africa.  ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 6 2014 - 4:42pm

Nature's FrankenFish- 180 Glowing Species Exist Naturally

Fish that glow and various other creatures that are given that ability due to genetic modifications often make the news for shock value.  Huffington Post got an opportunity to 'shock' and 'amaze' its audience with a story about piglets ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 8 2014 - 5:45pm

Clymene Dolphin Resulted From A Natural Genetic Modification

The clymene dolphin is a small and sleek marine mammal living in the Atlantic Ocean. A new study has found this dolphin is a rarity in mammals- a genetic hybrid that is closely related to spinner and striped dolphins. The classification of the clymene dol ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 9 2014 - 7:00am

And That's How The Locust Changed Its Mind

The desert locust (a type of grasshopper), much like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, goes from being an innocuous solitary-living individual to become a voracious gregarious animal that destroys everything on its path (and back). ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Jan 19 2014 - 9:11am

Temnothorax Pilagens: New Slave-Hunting Ant Loves To Pillage

A new slave-making ant species from the eastern USA quite literally means 'to pillage'. The listing in Zookeys tell us of the new ant Temnothorax pilagens – pilere is plunder in Latin. Temnothorax pilagens is different from other slave-making ant ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 17 2014 - 6:30am