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Zoology
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November 2003
November 23
New whale
species found in museum
The stunning discovery follows an analysis of a few leviathan skeletons
that have been gathering dust for 30 years in a Japan.
Mantis
Shrimp Fluoresce To Enhance Signaling In The Dim Ocean Depths (November
18, 2003)
The tropical mantis shrimp has the most sophisticated eyes of any creature
on the planet, yet it often lives at murky depths where the only light is
a filtered, dim blue. Why does it need such complex vision?
October 2003
October 26
Peacock's
Beauty Secrets Revealed
The spectacular sight of a peacock's tail has made the animal synonymous
with vanity. Researchers knew that the brilliant colors result from so-called
structural coloration--that is, the interaction of light with features of
the feathers--instead of pigmentation, but the precise mechanism of color
production was unknown. A new report unveils the creature's beauty secrets.
Extinct
Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) May Live Again. Oct. 21, 2003
From its vault in Sydney's Australian Museum, a pickled Tasmanian tiger
pup has brought the prospect of reviving an extinct species to the verge
of reality, bringing mixed reactions of wonder and terror.
October 19
Purple
frog delights scientists.
It has to be one of the strangest looking frogs ever discovered. "It
is an important discovery because it tells us something about the early
evolution of advanced frogs that we would not know otherwise because there
are no fossil records from this lineage," says Franky Bossuyt, of Free
University of Brussels, Belgium. DNA analysis suggests the common ancestor
of the animals lived 130 million years ago, when the planet's landmasses
were joined together into a giant supercontinent called Gondwana. Its subsequent
break-up would have sent the frogs on a diverging path of evolutionary development.
Startling
Deep-sea Encounter With Rare, Massive Greenland Shark (October 16, 2003)
During a recent submersible dive 3,000 feet down in the Gulf of Maine a
HARBOR BRANCH scientist and sub pilot had the first face-to-face meeting
ever in the deep sea with a rare Greenland shark. The docile 15-foot creature
gently rammed into the submersible's clear front sphere before turning and
swimming slowly away.
September 2003
September 21
'Jurassic
Insect' Breeds at Melbourne Zoo. Sept. 11, 2003
What is believed to be the world's rarest insect has begun breeding at Australia's
Melbourne Zoo, officials said Tuesday.
September 14
Nurseries In The
Deep Sea. Moss Landing - Sep 09, 2003
Exploring a deep-sea ridge off Northern California, scientists at the Monterey
Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have discovered a unique undersea
nursery, where groups of fish and octopus brood their eggs, like chickens
on their nests. This is the first time that marine biologists have directly
observed any deep-sea fish brooding its eggs.
Young
Sea Animals Clone Themselves—century-old Debate Halted (September
11, 2003)
After more than a century of intensive study, scientists have assumed that
larvae of non-parasitic invertebrates reproduce only very rarely, but new
research by University of Alberta scientists overthrows this conventional
wisdom. Graduate student Alexandra Eaves and Dr. Richard Palmer, from the
U of A's Faculty of Science, have found that asexual cloning by some marine
invertebrate larvae is not as rare and enigmatic a phenomenon as previously
assumed.
September 7
Silkworm's
Secret Unraveled
Scientists have long envied the lowly silkworm's ability to spin the strongest
natural fiber known to man. Now they are one step closer to understanding
just how the creature manages the feat. New research reveals that the key
lies in the animal's ability to carefully control the water content in its
silk glands. The findings should help improve future artificial silk-making
techniques.
Japan
To Show World's Only 'Zenkey'. Aug. 28, 2003
A Japanese safari park is to put a zebra-donkey hybrid, believed to be the
world's only living "zenkey," on public view next week, officials
said Thursday.
Fishing
For Photos Of Rare Or Unknown Deep-sea Creatures With An Electronic Jellyfish
Lure (September 3, 2003) —
Using a new lighted jellyfish lure and a unique camera system, researchers
from HARBOR BRANCH are working to reveal for the first time life in the
deep sea unaltered by the cacophony of sound and light that have been an
integral part of most past research there. From Sept 2-5 a team will be
using the lure for the first time in the dark depths of California's Monterey
Bay.
New
Fish Species Discovered In Venezuela (September 1, 2003)
Conservation International announced the discovery of a tiny fish with a
blood red tail in Venezuela's Upper Caura River. Previously unknown to science,
the bloodfin tetra (Aphyocharax yekwanae), is described in the March 2003
edition of the journal, "Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters."
August 2003
August 3
ed
wildlife
Website stores rare images and film of endangered species. See story
at http://www.nature.com/nsu/030721/030721-7.html
Its main website, www.arkive.org. ARKive
has two further educational websites. Kids aged between 7 and 11 can log
on to www.planetarkive.org for
fun facts, figures and interactive games, For teachers, www.arkiveeducation.org
has lesson plans and ideas for projects and trips. Both will expand to cover
more topics and age groups.
July 2003
July 20
The Mystery Sea Creature is a Sperm Whale Carcass. July 14, 2003 — The mysterious remains of a gelatinous sea creature found washed up on a Chilean beach have turned out to be those of a sperm whale, according to news reports. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20030714/giantblob.html
Cute Clownfish Change Gender. July 11, 2003 — Children who rush out to buy a clownfish, the cute little star of the new Disney cartoon "Finding Nemo," may be getting something that their parents may not have bargained for: Buston found that if he removed the top-ranking female, the breeding male changed gender and increased in size to become the female breeder. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030707/clownfish.html
July 13
Dung
beetles push by the light of the Moon
Insects use nocturnal polarisation to stay on the straight and narrow.
See http://www.nature.com/nsu/030630/030630-5.html
Mystery Sea Creature Appears on Chile Beach. July 3, 2003 — Puzzled scientists are examining the mysterious remains of a gelatinous sea creature found washed up on a Chilean beach. The remains, 12.4 meters (41 feet) in length and weighing 13 tons, was first thought to be the skin of a whale when it was discovered June 24 near Maullin on the Pacific Ocean coast. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20030630/giantblob.html http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030709/02/
Web-Footed Birds Use Two Strokes. July 2, 2003 — Web-footed birds use a fancy two-stroke method of propulsion when they swim, according to a study published Thursday in Nature, the British science weekly. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030630/webfoot.html
July 6
New Species Discovered in Bolivia. June 27, 2003 — Seven species previously unknown to science — two frogs, two snakes, a pair of toads and a new lizard — were recently discovered in the mountains of Bolivia, said the BP Conservation Programme in a recent press release. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030623/bolivia.html
Scientists ponder mysterious beached remains
http://www.n-jcenter.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/03NewsHEAD02ENV070503.htm
19th Century Museum Specimens Help Plan Reintroduction Of Endangered Tiger
Beetle
Examining the DNA of museum specimens can fill information gaps caused by
the lack of living animals in key locations. This is what two scientists
have done to help guide the reintroduction of the Northeastern Beach Tiger
Beetle into areas from which it has been wiped out by human activity. See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/06/030630111021.htm
June 2003
June 15
Flying snakes wriggle to help them glide through the air. The animals have similar aerodynamics to a falling ribbon of paper, calculate Japanese researchers. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/030602/030602-14.html
Scientists find giant new coral reef off Australia. See http://www.terradaily.com/2003/030610143406.fnu9oxct.html
May 2003
May 18
Earliest Domesticated Dogs Uncovered. May 8, 2003 — The skulls of two Stone Age dogs believed to be the earliest known canines on record have been found, according to a team of Russian scientists. The dog duo, which lived approximately 14,000 years ago, appear to represent the first step of domestication from their wild wolf ancestors. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030505/earlydog.html
Giant Jellyfish Lurks in Pacific. May 12, 2003 — Sea monsters still lurk off the coast of California, and the latest to come to the attention of marine biologists is a huge red jellyfish nicknamed Big Red. The new jelly reaches a full meter in diameter and has only arms and no tentacles, making it a strange beast indeed. Not only is Big Red a new species, said jelly specialist George Matsumoto of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, but it’s a new genus and subfamily as well. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030512/newjelly.html
April 2003
April 13
Rare Colossal Squid Found in Antarctica. April 3, 2003 — An extremely rare, dangerous squid with swiveling hooks on its tentacles for snagging prey has been captured in the Ross Sea in Antarctica, say scientists in New Zealand. The body, or mantle, is 2.5 meters long (about 8 feet). The total length, including the tentacles, is 6 meters (19.5 feet). The largest giant squid specimen he has seen has a 2.25-meter-long (7 feet) mantle, O'Shea said. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030331/squid.html
April 6
Rare, Remote Chimps Found: March 21, 2003 — Chimpanzees in a remote Central African rainforest may have had little or no contact with humans until recently, said a report in the April 2003 issue of the International Journal of Primatology. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030317/chimp.html
March 2003
No Zoology articles in March
February 2003
February 16
Antarctic Fish Found in Arctic Seas: Feb. 5 — A type of fish that normally inhabits the frigid waters around Antarctica was recently caught off Greenland, a discovery that has led experts to conclude that deep ocean currents must have helped it on an extraordinary trek almost halfway around the world. See http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030205/fishtravel.html
Beluga Whales Relay Arctic Data: Feb. 5 — European oceanographers have found a new way to explore ocean currents under the Arctic ice: they've recruited wild beluga whales. Researchers from Scotland and Norway have equipped some of the white whales with sensors that record water depth, salinity and temperature, and then transmit the data to satellites whenever the whales come up for air. See http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030203/whalesat.html
January 2003
January 25
Ultrapowerful X-Rays Reveal How Beetles Really Breathe: Even the most up-to-date biology textbooks, if they address insect respiration, now need revision. With the help of a high-energy particle accelerator, researchers have documented insects breathing in a manner never before thought possible. Scientists have known for some time that insects breathe using a system of internal respiratory tubes called tracheae. Simple mechanisms like diffusion were thought to enable oxygen exchange. But the new work, carried out by a team of scientists from the Field Museum in Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, shows that in a number of species, respiration can also occur via a mechanism more akin to mammalian lung ventilation: the creatures were observed to pump their respiratory tubes much as humans expand and contract their lungs. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=00083146-7E13-1E3C588EEDF
January 12
National Geographic's top 10 stories: See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1212_021216_topten.html?
New
Snake Footage Uncoils Mystery of Flying Serpents
Watch out—there's a snake flying through the air! No, it's not a paranoid
hallucination. Along the west coast of India and in parts of Southeast Asia
and Sri Lanka, some snakes slither through the jungle, bite with venom,
and glide from tree to tree. Full story, photo gallery, and video at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0807_020807_flyingsnake.html
Life
Is Confusing For Two-Headed Snakes
The two-headed monsters of myth may have a basis in reality. Two-headed
snakes are rare but not unheard of, and one recently found in Spain is giving
scientists an opportunity to study how the anomaly affects their ability
to hunt and mate. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0318_0319_twoheadsnake.html
Shark
Gives "Virgin Birth" in Detroit
A female white spotted bamboo shark at the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit
surprised zookeepers in July by giving birth to two babies. Why the surprise?
It was a virgin birth: She hadn't been near a male for six years. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0925_020925_virginshark.html
Research Finds Life 1,000 Feet Beneath Ocean Floor: Corvallis - Jan 10, 2003 - A new study has discovered an abundance of microbial life deep beneath the ocean floor in ancient basalt that forms part of the Earth's crust, in research that continues to expand the realm of seemingly hostile or remote environments in which living organisms can apparently thrive. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-03a.html
National Geographic's top 10 stories: See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1212_021216_topten.html?c=NGInside#1_Jan2003&n=Feature3&t=email