Wild Biology News

Meet the beetles: Social networks provide clues to natural selection

Friday, February 10, 2012 00:00 MST

"Forked fungus beetles are not pretty -- they look like tree bark -- but they're helping us better understand the evolution of social behavior," said University of Virginia evolutionary biologist Vince Formica, lead author on a paper published in the January edition of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

What do killer whales eat in the Arctic?

Thursday, February 09, 2012 00:00 MST

Killer whales are the top marine predator. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research published in BioMed Central's re-launched open-access journal Aquatic Biosystems has combined scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge to determine killer whale behavior and diet in the Arctic.

Capturing an octopus-eye view of the Great Barrier Reef

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 00:00 MST

A specialized camera that allows scientists to see as reef-dwelling animals do has been built by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol. The team will travel to Lizard Island off the coast of Queensland this year to capture images of the Great Barrier Reef which they hope will provide new insight into this underwater world.

For the birds

Tuesday, February 07, 2012 00:00 MST

Location matters for birds on the hunt for caterpillars, according to researchers at UC Irvine and Wesleyan University. Findings suggest that chickadees and others zero in on the type of tree as much as the characteristics of their wriggly prey.

Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered orchids

Monday, February 06, 2012 00:00 MST

When it comes to conserving the world's orchids, not all forests are equal. In a paper to be published Jan. 25 in the journal Molecular Ecology, Smithsonian ecologists revealed that an orchid's fate hinges on two factors: A forest's age and its fungi.

Extended synaptic development may explain our cognitive edge over other primates

Monday, February 06, 2012 00:00 MST

Over the first few years of life, human cognition continues to develop, soaking up information and experiences from the environment and far surpassing the abilities of even our nearest primate relatives. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified extended synaptic development in the human brain relative to other primates, a finding that sheds new light on the biology and evolution of human cognition.

Domestic cats, and wild bobcats and pumas, living in same area have same diseases

Monday, February 06, 2012 00:00 MST

The joint National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Program funded the study. Scientists at Colorado State University and other institutions conducted the research. It provides evidence that domestic cats and wild cats that share the same outdoor areas in urban environments also can share diseases such as Bartonellosis and Toxoplasmosis. Both can be spread from cats to people.

Wasp found in upstate New York shows up in Southern California

Sunday, February 05, 2012 00:00 MST

In August 2010, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside discovered a tiny fairyfly wasp in upstate New York that had never been seen in the United States until then. Nearly exactly a year later, he discovered the wasp in Irvine, Calif., strongly suggesting that the wasp is well established in the country. Called Gonatocerus ater, the 1-millimeter-long wasp was accidentally introduced in North America. It lays its eggs inside the eggs of leafhoppers.

Life discovered on dead hydrothermal vents

Saturday, February 04, 2012 00:00 MST

A team led by USC microbiologist Katrina Edwards found that the microbes that thrive on hot fluid methane and sulfur spewed by active hydrothermal vents are supplanted, once the vents go cold, by microbes that feed on the solid iron and sulfur that make up the vents themselves.

Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain

Friday, February 03, 2012 00:00 MST

If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that -- or flee? In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea.

The evolution of division of labor

Thursday, February 02, 2012 00:00 MST

Division of labor is not only a defining feature of human societies but is also omnipresent among the building blocks of biological organisms and is considered a major theme of evolution. Theoretical Biologists Claus Rueffler and Joachim Hermisson from Vienna University in collaboration with Guenter P. Wagner from Yale University identified necessary conditions under which division of labor is favored by natural selection. The results of their study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lessons in coral reef survival from deep time

Wednesday, February 01, 2012 00:00 MST

Lessons from tens of millions of years ago are pointing to new ways to save and protect today's coral reefs and their myriad of beautiful and many-hued fishes at a time of huge change in the Earth's systems.Today's complex relationship between fishes and corals developed relatively recently in geological terms -- and is a major factor in shielding reef species from extinction, says David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

Patterns of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in Galapagos reptiles

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 00:00 MST

Land and marine iguanas and giant tortoises living close to human settlements or tourist sites in the Galapagos islands were more likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria than those living in more remote or protected sites on the islands, researchers report in a new study. Many of the reptiles harbor E. coli bacteria that are resistant to ampicillin, doxycycline, tetracycline, and trimethoprin/sulfamethoxazole.

Tiny crooners: Male house mice sing songs to impress the girls

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 00:00 MST

Male house mice produce melodious songs to attract mates. Unfortunately for us, because the melodies are in the ultra-sonic range human ears cannot detect them. Through spectrographic analyses of the vocalizations of wild house mice, researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have found that the songs of male mice contain signals of individuality and kinship. Their results appear in the journal Physiology and Behavior and in the Journal of Ethology.

Bonobos' unusual success story

Monday, January 30, 2012 00:00 MST

Mate competition by males over females is common in many animal species. During mating season male testosterone levels rise, resulting in an increase in aggressive behavior and masculine features. Male bonobos, however, invest much more into friendly relationships with females. Elevated testosterone and aggression levels would collide with this increased tendency toward forming pair-relationships.