Ecology & Zoology

How The Diving Bell Spider Breathes Underwater

The diving bell spider, Argyroneta aquatica, spend their entire lives underwater- they even lay their eggs in their 'diving bells'. A new study shows that each spider constructs a net of silk in vegetation beneath the surface and fills it with ai ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 9 2011 - 9:41am

Like Rice? Thank A Pirate!

Domesticated rice,  Oryza sativa indica (indica) and Oryza sativa japonica (japonica), are major staple crops in Asia.   Evolutionary biologists and historians have long wondered if both once had an original point of domestication in common, or they were d ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 9 2011 - 7:32pm

Your chance to name a species!

Usually, you have to be insanely, insanely lucky to name a species. Not only that, after the ages spent finding and researching your animal, you then have the laborious process of getting your new species published. Well, here is your chance to cut out all ...

Blog Post - Oliver Knevitt - Jun 12 2011 - 12:15pm

Defining Dallas- June 15

One of the most exciting things about working with kids on science is that suddenly you have a dozen curious and eager eyes, much sharper than yours and much closer to the ground, who are alert to things that older eyes might have missed.  This summer, whi ...

Blog Post - Mel. White - Jun 15 2011 - 9:27pm

Dead Squid + Photo Paper = Art!

Artists, man! They'll cut a square of sod out of your front yard, stick it on the wall, and call it a masterpiece. No, but actually  this is quite cool: Film is said to be a dying medium, and Christopher Colville took that to heart for the "No Mi ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jun 17 2011 - 12:44am

Conservation Success Story: The Arabian Oryx

The last wild Arabian Oryx (Oryx leukoryx), an antelope species found only on the Arabian peninsula, (see figure 1) was shot in 1972, causing the species to be labled 'Extinct in the wild' by the IUCN  (or the International Union for Conservation ...

Blog Post - Gunnar De Winter - Jun 18 2011 - 6:12am

Discovery- 7 New Mouse Species In The Philippines

A group of biologists have discovered seven previously unknown species of mammals on Luzon Island in the Philippines.  All of the species are forest mice, and each species lives only in a small part of Luzon.    Two of the new species live only in the Zamb ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 20 2011 - 11:51am

Giant Squid In Mexico

Chuck over at Ya Like Dags? just posted a compelling piece called 101 Uses for Shark Puke. His list may not have reached (anywhere near) 101 uses, but obviously the most important use is determining the range of the giant squid. ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jun 21 2011 - 12:45pm

Colossal Squid in Canada

Wish I could go see this exhibit! Creatures of the Abyss is on display at the Royal Alberta Museum, The exhibition’s focal point is a fibreglass model of an eight-metre long colossal squid caught in the Antarctic water in 2007. Weighing about 495 kilograms ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jun 22 2011 - 12:00pm

I Was Not Named After This Squid (Unfortunately)

Whenever friends or family learn that there exists in the depths of the sea a particular species known as the Dana Octopus Squid, they draw the obvious conclusion that I must have been named after this squid, or (even more flattering) the squid was named a ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jun 23 2011 - 4:00pm