Ecology & Zoology

As Hunting Declines, So Do Conservation Efforts

President Obama recently got some ridicule for hastily claiming he loved skeet shooting and therefore was not against sportsmen when he wanted to tell Americans they couldn't be trusted to decide how many bullets to buy for their guns. That he was si ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 7 2013 - 6:12pm

Third Forcepfly Species Discovered- In South America

Forcepflies, commonly known as earwigflies, because the males have a large genital forceps that resembles the cerci of earwigs, are part of a family that was widespread  from Australia to Antarctica and over the Americas during the Jurassic period and ext ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 15 2013 - 12:30pm

Organic Tomatoes Exposed To Greater Stress But Accumulate More Vitamin C, Sugars

The hypothesis that tomato fruits from organic farming and greater stressing conditions associated with organic farming leads to more nutritional compounds, such as phenolics and vitamin C, recently got tested. ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 20 2013 - 7:43pm

An Open Letter To Squid

Dear Squid of the World, Excuse me. What is this? I have been your friend and advocate for years. No, DECADES. (Two, to be specific.) I have championed your cause to family and friends, students and total strangers. I wore the shirts. I read the books. I e ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 24 2013 - 10:50pm

Pregnancy Really Does Change Foot Size

Pregnant women have long said that being pregnant changes their foot size- a new confirms that but also found that the size and shape change is permanent. Flat feet are a common problem for pregnant women. The arch of the foot flattens out, possibly due t ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 1 2013 - 3:30pm

Falkland Islands Wolf: Ancient DNA Solves A Mystery That Stumped Darwin

How did the now extinct Falkland Islands wolf come to be the only land-based mammal there, when they islands are almost 300 miles from Argentina?. Previous hypotheses floated the idea that the wolf somehow rafted on ice or vegetation, crossed via a now-su ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 5 2013 - 6:00pm

A 'Marshall Plan' For African Wildlife

In America's modern monolithic science culture, when a desired plan of action is advocated, they call for a 'Manhattan Project of' whatever they are seeking. It's not a great analogy. It reminds people that the last real government sci ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 8 2013 - 5:35pm

Cucurbitaceae Of India

It had been shown that the origin of pumpkins and cucumbers can be traced back to India and a new genetic analysis has updated that data.  Compared to grains and pulses, vegetables are under-investigated taxonomically, and information on their genome is s ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2013 - 11:41am

Young Pigs Are Picky Eaters

Pigs are not known for being picky- 'eats like a pig' is not a colloquial metaphor, they are messy and eat everything- but new research shows they avoid bitter tastes when they can. In a new study of nursery pig diets, researchers offered pigs d ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 13 2013 - 7:04am

Cryptic Clam Species Hiding In Plain Sight

Unlike a cryptic phrase, a cryptic species in biology is outwardly indistinguishable- until you look inside their genes. Two University of Michigan marine biologists have identified three cryptic species of tiny clams, long believed to be members of the s ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2013 - 12:57pm