Ecology & Zoology

Rainbow Vision: Marine Algae Can Detect Orange, Green And Blue Light

A new study has found that several types of aquatic algae can detect orange, green and blue light. Land plants have receptors to detect the common visual optical wavelengths in the air, light on the red and far red of the spectrum. That allows them to sen ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 24 2014 - 4:18pm

City Mouse Or Country Mouse? What Genetic Claims Tell Us About The Importance Of Design

People who live in cities love the infrastructure, the nightlife, the hobos, the fact that you can find a Starbucks on every corner. People who live in the country love the cleaner air, the openness, the fact that you can go for a walk without being accos ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 25 2014 - 12:33pm

Tough Question: How Many Species Of Extinct Moa Were There?

Just how many species existed of the extinct New Zealand moa? The status for extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) from the genus Euryapteryx isn't as clear cut as it might seem.  Dr. Leon Huynen, lead author of a new paper said the challenges of unde ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 3 2014 - 8:45pm

Has There Really Been A Sardine Crash?

Sardines have been a hot news topic in recent weeks. Environmental groups and others have claimed that the sardine population is collapsing like it did in the mid-1940s.  The environmental group Oceana has been arguing this point loudly in order to shut do ...

Article - D.B. Pleschner - Mar 4 2014 - 5:32pm

Maybe The Dingo Ate Your Poison

Poisoning of dingoes- wild dogs- has a deleterious effect on small native mammals such as marsupial mice, bandicoots and native rodents, according to a new paper which found that loss of dingoes after baiting is associated with greater activity by foxes, ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 11 2014 - 8:49pm

Tequila Plant May Be Good For Diabetics

The agave's claim to fame is as the plant from which the distilled adult beverage Tequila, named after the nearby town that made it famous, is produced. But that may change. A sweetener created from the agave plant could lower blood glucose levels fo ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 17 2014 - 2:30am

FrankenMoss Comes Back To Life After 1,500 Years

Even after over 1,500 years frozen in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow. Writing in Current Biology, the team report that they observed moss regeneration after at least 1,530 years frozen in permafrost.  For the first time, th ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 17 2014 - 5:20pm

126 Million Year Old Cretophasmomima Melanogramma Is Oldest Stick Insect To Mimic Plants

An ancient stick insect species, Cretophasmomima melanogramma from in Inner Mongolia at the Jehol locality, may have mimicked plant leaves for defense as far back as 126 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, according to a new study. ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 19 2014 - 8:39pm

Sea Turtle And Marine Mammal By-Catch: Unintended Consequence Of Global Fisheries

Seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals can be unintended victims – by-catch – of global fishing. Accidental entanglement in fishing gear is the single biggest threat to some species in these groups, according to a new analysis co-authored by Stanford bi ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 21 2014 - 10:35am

Rhynchohyalus Natalensis: Four-Eyed Deep-Sea Barreleye Fish Has 360 Degree Vision

The Rhynchohyalus natalensis in a recent paper was caught about 1000 meters under the Tasman Sea and it has two pairs of eyes, allowing it to spot danger from every angle. One pair is upward-facing tubular eyes, to spot danger from above, while another set ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Mar 28 2014 - 6:00am