Ecology & Zoology

A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and performed by researchers at the university of Oxford, has shown that larger groups of birds are better at solving…

People concerned about climate change recently can look no farther than the world's rainforests to see the diversity that arises from different ecological conditions.  History and geology, not…

To be specific, the Humboldt squid are back in California. Their opening act was a mass stranding on Black's Beach in San Diego last Saturday. A lifeguard had the most poetic commentary on the matter…

Octopoteuthis is a curious animal. As the name suggests, it's a squid that looks like an octopus. Babies have eight arms and two tentacles, but they lose the tentacles as they grow up--becoming the…

A new plant species is appropriately named Spigelia genuflexa because after fruits are formed, the fruiting branches 'bend down' and deposit  the capsules with seeds on the ground and sometimes…

A new species of large predatory fish named Laccognathus embryi that prowled ancient North American waterways during the Devonian Period, before backboned animals existed on land, has been…

An interesting fellow is doing an interesting thing. Scott Cassell aims to "raise awareness around the detrimental state of the ocean along the Southern California coastline" with a specific…

I know I keep talking about the incredible unpredictability of squids, but it's an endlessly fascinating topic! Every time you think you've got them figured out, they surprise you--and I'd say that…

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a proven, cost-effective strategy to combat pest problems without unnecessary pesticides. By correcting conditions that lead to pest problems and using least-toxic…

I know, I know! This is totally a cop-out blog post. But I've been super busy compiling the latest Circus of the Spineless, which I'm hosting over at my homepage, the Cephalopodiatrist. There's some…