Ecology & Zoology

Spider Personalities Can Tell Us Which Are The Best Parents

A new paper delineating spiders’ roles within their colonies is intriguing because the spiders’ specialization (like caregiver or hunter-warrior) isn’t determined by size or physical structure, like with ants, but by personalities. Aren't spiders lone ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2014 - 5:30am

Magpies Are Only 3 Percent The Thieves We Think They Are

In European culture, it is widely accepted that magpies (Pica pica) are the thieves of the bird kingdom, attracted to sparkly things and prone to stealing them for their nests. But psychologists at the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB) at the ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2014 - 7:14pm

Lizards Help Us Find Out Which Came First: The Baby Or The Egg?

By Oliver Griffith, University of Sydney Have you ever wondered why we give birth to live young rather than lay eggs? Scientists have pondered this for a long time and answers have come from an unlikely source: some of Australia’s lizards and snakes! In re ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 20 2014 - 8:00am

Orb-weaving Spiders In Cities May Be Larger, Reproduce Better

A common orb-weaving spider may grow larger and have an increased ability to reproduce when living in urban areas, according to ecologists from the University of Sydney. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2014 - 10:00am

Survival Of The Less Fit: Sprinting Salmon Less Likely To Survive Migration

When salmon encounter turbulent, fast-moving water, such as rapids or areas downstream of dams, they must move upstream using a behavior known as "burst swimming" that is similar to sprinting for humans. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2014 - 10:31am

Life Boils Down To Five 'Rules'... Or So Says The Madingley Model

By James Smith, Research Fellow in Fisheries at UNSW Australia It may sound overly simple, but just five processes can define us as animals: eating, metabolism, reproduction, dispersal and death. They might not seem like much, but, thanks to a mathematica ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 21 2014 - 6:00pm

Calcium And Reproduction Go Together In Flowering Plants

Everyone's heard of the birds and the bees- why do they leave out the flowers that are being fertilized? Maybe because it is too complicated. The fertilization process for flowering plants is particularly complex and requires extensive communication ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 24 2014 - 12:30pm

Hormone Analysis Helps Horny Rhinos

A comprehensive study of rhino reproduction over six years encompassed 90% of the European population of captive black rhinos in Europe highlights and finds that hormone analysis could improve the success of breeding programs. In total, 9,743 samples from ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 22 2014 - 11:00am

Don't Overlook What’s Underfoot – Save The Bugs And Germs

Honey bees play a vital role in pollination but their populations are under threat in many parts of the world. Flickr/Paul Stein, CC BY-SA By Andrew Beattie ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 26 2014 - 9:44am

How To Save Brazil’s Atlantic Forest On A Shoestring Budget

The Brazilian Atlantic forest is home to animals, birds, plants, and tourist trains. Credit: EPA By Cristina Banks-Leite, Imperial College London Brazil’s Atlantic forest – Mata Atlântica – is one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, rivalling even ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 28 2014 - 2:01pm