Ecology & Zoology

The Bengal tiger population of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal has declined at least 30 percent, according to camera trap results monitored by World Wildlife Fund (WWF). While once a refuge that boasted among the highest densities of the endangered s ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2008 - 9:30pm

Simian Foamy Virus Rampant In African Wild Chimpanzees

Researchers in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Gabon, Germany, Japan, Rwanda, the United Kingdom, and the United States have found that simian foamy virus (SFV) is widespread among wild chimpanzees throughout equatorial Africa. Recent s ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2008 - 12:06am

Helping Nature Regenerate Tropical Forests

Dutch ecologist Marijke van Kuijk has studied the regeneration of the tropical forest in Vietnam. Abandoned agricultural land does regenerate to tropical forest, but only slowly. Two procedures are used to help nature along: pruning of foliage to free up s ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2008 - 11:23am

The Evolution Of Super-Fast Muscles

Certain songbirds can contract their vocal muscles 100 times faster than humans can blink an eye – placing the birds with a handful of animals that have evolved superfast muscles, University of Utah researchers found. "We discovered that the European ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 8 2008 - 8:18pm

Protein Power Makes For Super Bees- Even Though They Don't Eat It

Good pollen makes bees hot, say UC San Diego biologists, and wasps warm up after some protein-rich meat- and they don't even have to eat it to get that effect but the warmer flight muscles speed the insects' trips home, allowing them to quickly e ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 10 2008 - 9:12pm

Lead Sinkers: The Little Discussed Hazard In Fish Ecology

Millions of pounds of lead used in hunting, fishing and shooting sports wind up in the environment each year and can threaten or kill wildlife, according to a new scientific report. Lead is a metal with no known beneficial role in biological systems, and i ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 11 2008 - 4:34pm

A Forest Of Bats: 100 Species In A Small Section Of Ecuador

Bats, outnumbered only by rodents in number of species and thus the second largest group of mammals, are a remarkable evolutionary success story. Now they have gotten even more interesting. Researchers of the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 12 2008 - 10:46am

PCBs Have Sex Skewing Effect

Women exposed to high levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls – a group of banned environmental pollutants) are less likely to give birth to male children, according to a study published today in Environmental Health. The researchers found that among wom ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 16 2008 - 9:04am

Koalas Are One Step Closer To Being STD Free

Researchers at Queensland University of Technology have had good results with a trial vaccine for chlamydia, a disease which is decimating koala populations in the wild. Chlamydia in koalas was a significant cause of infertility, urinary tract infections, ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2008 - 12:36pm

Midshipman Fish Apparently Has A Sexy Voice

New research on the midshipman fish, a close relative of the toadfish, indicates that that the ability to make and respond to sound is an ancient part of the vertebrate success story. After building a nest for his potential partner, he calls to nearby fema ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2008 - 6:29pm