Ecology & Zoology

And they're on exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Splash Zone! Seriously, if you are within 100 miles of Monterey, you should go see them now. If you're not, well... sorry! Take my word for it, they're really cute! You'll have ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 20 2009 - 1:22am

Sex And Food In The Giant Squid

A nifty news story about students in a Florida classroom watching a giant squid dissected in Melbourne, Australia, led me to hunt down an article about the dissection itself. Was it really a giant squid, I wondered wearily, or merely a very large squid? It ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Nov 21 2009 - 12:05am

ACS Genes Discovery May Make Valuable Plants Survive In Difficult Terrain

According to a recent GENETICS study, a family of genes (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, or ACS genes) are responsible for production of ethylene and since this gas affects many aspects of plant development, it could lay the foundation for futu ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 21 2009 - 3:52pm

Giant Squid: The Band?

I discovered that Giant Squid was a band when I was searching for squid products on Amazon (yes, that is pretty typical behavior for me). Okay, I thought, rather miffed, some punk band thinks it's cool to name themselves after an enormous marine inver ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 21 2009 - 11:55pm

Squid Sucker Rings Can Hurt (A Little)

I wrote the following about the toothed sucker rings of the Humboldt squid in Squid Says: What's For Dinner? Probably Not You: Each ring would barely fit on the finger of an infant, and the "teeth" range from the length of a pinhead to micro ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 22 2009 - 8:48pm

Scientists Discover New Species Of Chameleon In Tanzania--Kinyongia Magomberae

While surveying monkeys in the Magombera Forest in Tanzania, environmental scientists this week unexpectedly discovered a new species of chameleon called Kinyongia magomberae, or the Magombera chameleon. The researchers distinguished the new specimen by co ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 6:58pm

Census of Marine Life Biased Towards Cephalopods?

Speaking of cirrate octopods (as I have been recently), BBC News In Pictures: Monsters of the deep is strongly dominated by a cirrate octopus! Yay! Three of the eight photos feature Grimpoteuthis: Picture #1 is very much dead, probably preserved in ethanol ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 23 2009 - 5:17pm

More Cephalopods in COML!

I love that the Census of Marine Life is getting news coverage! It proves that people can get excited over cool exploratory science--natural history of the deep--that doesn't have any immediate application. If you want to hear deep-sea species discuss ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 24 2009 - 1:35pm

In Defense Of Dissection

An opinion piece in the Boston Herald criticizes the squid dissection component of an overnight family education event at the New England Aquarium: The barbaric highlight of the night was when the children were instructed to use the squid’s pseudo-spine to ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Nov 26 2009 - 1:38am

Lots of "Lively" Squid Are No Longer Alive

Humboldt squid are apparently still swarming off the coast of northern California, according to this account from Marin: The fishing began roughly 30 miles from shore when captain Rick Powers killed the motor and told his 28 clients to drop their lines to ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Nov 27 2009 - 8:27pm