Migratory Birds In Decline Due To Human Impact

According to research from the University of East Anglia (UEA), migratory birds such as the wood warbler pictured above are in decline because of human impacts such as climate change and the loss of habitat. Those that are 'set in their ways' could be more vulnerable to environmental impacts than other migratory birds that have a more diverse range of winter locations to go to during their non breeding season.

New research published today reveals why some species are more vulnerable than others.

Studying the Actual Size of Undersea Giants

A group of scientists have decided to study and analyze the body size of 25 marine species. These species include the Great White Shark, the Giant Octopus, and walrus as well as lesser known creatures such as the Giant Tubes Worm and the Colossal Squid.

Their aim is to arrive at a more realistic data when it comes to establishing sizes of undersea giants and overcoming the human bias regarding this.

The scientists also wants to establish the relationship between size and varied factors such as lifespan, environment, and nourishment. Unlike mammals that have the same diet throughout their lifespan, marine species eat different foods as they grow. Another factor is metabolism which is the amount of energy required by the species on a daily basis.

Environmental factors were also considered that could give rise to bigger species, as well as situations in which a larger size would be beneficial. An example would be the Giant Clam. The additional nourishment from symbiotic photosynthetic bacteria allows it to reach sizes of up to 1.37 meters (4.5 feet). Another example would be Whale Sharks and Blue Whales which has the ability to support a migration and subsequent fasting to reach more plankton-rich waters when its habitat is low on food.

They gathered data by contacting fisheries, marine centers, and other scientists. "It's one part a databasing effort and one part historical research: double-checking museum specimens; talking with other scientists and collectors; and even checking eBay for specimens for sale," says Craig McClain, the assistant director of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, N.C. and the primary author of the paper.

Dinosaurs Survived By Shrinking

A study by scientists from Oxford University and the Royal Ontario Museum suggest that dinosaurs survived by shrinking their bodies eventually evolving into birds.

The study suggests that the dinosaurs went through a huge range of shapes and sizes over these years. And those species that decreased their body mass, survived and became birds. This evolution helped the dinosaurs maintain their presence, albeit in another much smaller form, and allowed them to continue exploiting new ecological niches throughout their evolution.

It has been only more than two decades that the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs have entered mainstream acceptance. This can be largely attributed to the movie "Jurassic Park" which broached the theory to the public and garnered massive acceptance. Although some of the facts in the movie turned out to be wrong, the dinosaur to bird evolution theory still remains.

There have also been fossils discovered that suggests that some dinosaurs have feathers just like their current cousins. And there are also some, like the Microraptor had wings.

Crazy Ants Displace Fire Ants As Dominant Invasive Species

According to a University of Texas study, Crazy Ants may become the dominant invasive ant species displacing Fire Ants in the near future.

The ants secrete a compound that neutralizes the venom used by Fire ants. The venom of the fire ant is very powerful and even fatal. It is two to three times as toxic as DDT on a per weight basis. But because crazy ants have a natural defense against the venom and their sheer numbers, they can overcome the species in a head to head confrontation.

Crazy ants gained attention when Texas exterminator Tom Raspberry noticed these ants in a Pasadena chemical plant in 2002. He noticed that the species seem to keep multiplying even after extermination.

The ant colonies seem to have an unexplained attraction to electrical devices. Crazy ants are known to damage devices such as televisions and laptops. The ants will stream inside the device until they form a single moving mass that completes a circuit and shorts it.

They take over an area through sheer numbers. These ants can overtake beehives and destroy the colonies. Bird chicks are smothered and struggle to hatch. In South America, where scientists now believe the ants originated, they have been known to obstruct the nasal cavities of chickens and asphyxiate the birds. They even swarm into cows’ eyes.

With their natural defense against fire ants, scientists believe that crazy ants will displace fire ants in the Southern United States.

375 Million Year Old Fossil Show Evolution Of Hind Legs Started As Enhanced Fish Fins

The discovery of new fossil samples of a 375 million year old fish show that the development of hind legs happened before vertebrates transitioned to land and not after. The fossils show that legs started off as enhanced fish fins.

The fossils were of the prehistoric fish, Tiktaalik roseae, which is known as a transitional species between fish and land animals. The discovery of a well-preserved pelvis and a partial pelvic fin of the fish suggest that the development of hind legs started in fishes and not in land dwelling animals.

The pelvis had features comaprable to early tetrapods. It had a ball and socket hip joint and a highly mobile femur. Crests on the hip for muscle attachment indicated strength and advanced fin function. And although no femur bone was found, pelvic fin material, including long fin rays, indicated the hind fin was at least as long and as complex as its forefin.

The Tiktaalik roseae has a broad flat head and sharp teeth. Looking like a cross between a fish and a crocodile, the lobe finned fish can grow up to nine feet in length. Aside from having gills, scales, and fins, the prehistoric fish also had features found in land animals such as a mobile neck, robust ribcage and primitive lungs.

Tiktaalik roseae also had shoulders, elbows and partial wrists in its large forefins to provide support when it hunted in shallow freshwater environments. The researchers believe that aside from using the fins to swim like a paddle, the fish can also use it to walk with them as well.

16 New Species of Wasps Discovered in the Nearctic Region

Alloxysta texana

Researchers have found 16 new species of wasps from the Nearctic region from specimens in the United States National Museum of Natural History and in the Canadian National Collection of Insects. Of the 16 discovered, seven of these have been described and illustrated.

Wasps are insects and cataloged under order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita. Contrary to belief, they are not related to bees or ants. Wasps prey on other insects. Some parasitic wasps are used as a deterrent against other pests in agricultural environments. Since they prey on just the pests, there is minimal crop damage caused by using them.

Most wasps are solitary and do not sting or attack humans. Only a few are aggressive such as the Yellow Jacket. Wasps are distinguishable from bees by their pointed lower abdomens and the narrow "waist," called a petiole, that separates the abdomen from the thorax. There are about 30,000 sub species of wasps identified to date.

The Nearctic zone includes most of North America as well as Greenland and the highlands of Mexico.

New Carnivore Species Discovered - Olinguito (Bassaricyon Neblina)

For the first time in 35 years, a new carnivore species have been discovered in the Western Hemisphere - the Olinguito (Bassaricyon Neblina).

The new species is catalogued under the family Procynidae. The Olinguito is similar to its close relative, the Olingo (Bassaricyon Gabbii), but is smaller and has a longer and denser coat. Aside from the Olingo, it also has close ties to raccoons, coatis, and kinkajous.

The animal has similar features as that of a cat and raccoon. It weighs around 2 pounds, has large eyes and woolly orange-brown fur. It is native to Colombia and Ecuador, living in cloud forests. It's diet mainly consists of fruits, rarely leaves its environment in the trees and is active at night. It also has one baby at a time.

The olinguito has been featured in museums and zoos before but has escaped detection as a new carnivore species. It was only made evident that it is a new species when DNA testing and review of historic field data of Olingos exposed the existence of the Olinguito. It took another ten years for the discovery to be made official.

Human Colonization in the Pacific Resulted in the Extinction of 1300 Bird Species

The takahē is a large flightless rail (a land-based relative of our familiar coot and moorhen) from New Zealand.

Researchers found that human colonization in 41 tropical islands in the Pacific such as Hawaii and Fiji has resulted in the extinction of around 1,300 species of birds.

Human colonization has a major impact on nature. Natural habitats of birds are disturbed, extended hunting of these species and also deforestation to reclaim land are some of the factors that affect the population of birds.

The most famous of extinct species of birds is the dodo bird. It is a flightless bird found in the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is the first species that has gone extinct that is directly attributed to humans. Because of the lack of predators of the dodo in Mauritius, the dodo is said to be easily hunted.

Aside from the dodo, countless species has gone extinct due to the expansion of human civilization. On December 28, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act. It ensures that endangered species are given protection and conservation. The law also covers and protects the ecosystems that these species depend on.

The Nopili Rock-Climbing Goby And How It Climbs and Feeds

Gobies (family Gobiidae) have the most members in its family of fish. There are about 2000 species of gobies.

Mudskippers are part of the family. These fish stand out as they can crawl on land using their fins as legs. Despite this, they still have to return to water from time to time to keep their gills and fins moist.

The Nopili rock-climbing goby is also another species of gobies that has a peculiar trait. These fish can climb up rocks (usually up waterfalls). And as researchers have recently studied, using their mouths.

The Nopoli can be found in the islands of Hawaii, these fish live in mountain streams. Although as young juveniles, they start off on saltwater (the eggs are washed off into the sea where they hatch). As they mature, they make their way into freshwater streams. They feed off algae on the surface of rocks and gravel. They are also known as Oopu Nopili and Stimpson's goby.

Intelligence of Certain Species Linked To Evolution of Body Size Not Brain Size

Conventional scientific belief is that the evolution of intelligence is directly linked to the size of the brain relative to the size of the body of an organism. Simplified, it means that the brain evolves and gets bigger giving the species more intelligence.

Scientists from the University College London, the University of Konstanz, and the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology has found that this belief may not hold true at all. They published their study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They find that sometimes it is not the brain that gets bigger but it is the body that gets smaller. They note that a species of bats decreased their body mass over time which allowed their brain to perform more duties such as increased dexterity, flight maneuverability, and heightened foraging skills.

Recovered Species Previously Under Threat and Endangerment As Listed By Endangered Species Act Need Continued Management

On December 28, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act. The law ensures the protection and conservation of species that are endangered of extinction and those that are threatened to be endangered. The law also covers and protects the ecosystems that these species depend on.

Upon signing the act, then President Nixon comments about the act, "Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed..."

The Endangered Species Act is administered by two US federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Act defines itself as, "AN ACT To provide for the conservation of endangered and threatened species of fish, wildlife, and plants, and for other purposes."

According to the NOAA, there are about 1,990 total species protected by the act. 1,385 of these species can be found in part or entirely within the United States.

To qualify the species under the act, species are considered endangered or threatened. A species is endangered if it is in peril of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. It is threatened if the species is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future.

Endangered species listed under the act are protected from being taken, harassed, harmed, pursued, hunted, shot, wounded, killed, trapped, captured, collected or any attempt to inflict these on the species. Threatened species are also extended similar restrictions for their protection.

Continuing management needed for most threatened and endangered species

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), the key US law protecting species listed as threatened or endangered—focuses on boosting species' numbers until they reach recovery thresholds and so can be taken off the ESA list. Almost 1400 species (NOAA lists 1,385 out of 1,990 species are within US borders) are now listed. Yet as many as 84 percent of currently listed species with management plans will face threats to their biological recovery even after they are considered "recovered" under the act, according to an article by Dale D. Goble and his colleagues in the October issue of BioScience. These species will require continuing management actions. Goble and colleagues argue that individual, formal conservation agreements are the best way to help such "conservation-reliant species."

The ESA was intended to interact with state and local regulations to prevent extinction. However, say Goble and his coauthors, these regulations are often insufficient to maintain a species' population, and the ESA itself may hinder the spread of a species—for example, a landowner may not wish to create habitat for a species that will then require monitoring under the ESA. Individual conservation agreements might not only help species' biological recovery and accelerate their removal from the ESA list, Goble and his colleagues maintain—they might prevent some species from having to be listed in the first place. To be effective, such agreements should be tailored to the species, landscape, landowners, conservation managers, and sources of funding of each situation.

New Spider Family Trogloraptoridae Discovered In Oregon

This is a male Trogloraptor photographed in the lab.
Credit: Griswold CE, Audisio T, Ledford JM

The spider family Trogloraptoridae is a new species of spider discovered in the old growth forests of southern Oregon. To date, it only comprises a single species; Trogloraptor Marchingtoni.

The spider is named after amateur biologist, Neil Marchington, who helped in the discovery of the arachnid. Marchington is a Deschutes County deputy sheriff and led the team of scientists to caves where the Trogloraptor spiders were found. He is also an amateur biologist and local cave explorer. Neil is a member of the the Western Cave Conservancy.

The trogloraptor has been observed to spin primitive webs that comprises only a few strands. They hang beneath those webs from the cool, damp ceilings of the caves.

Spider version of Bigfoot emerges from caves in the Pacific Northwest

The forests of the coastal regions from California to British Columbia are renowned for their unique and ancient animals and plants, such as coast redwoods, tailed frogs, mountain beavers and the legendary Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch). Whereas Bigfoot is probably just fiction, a huge, newly discovered spider is very real. Trogloraptor (or "cave robber") is named for its cave home and spectacular, elongate claws. It is a spider so evolutionarily special that it represents not only a new genus and species, but also a new family (Trogloraptoridae). Even for the species-rich insects and arachnids, to discover a new, previously unknown family is an historic moment. A study of the new family and its evolutionary and conservation significance was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

A team of citizen scientists from the Western Cave Conservancy and arachnologists from the California Academy of Sciences found these spiders living in caves in southwest Oregon. Colleagues from San Diego State University found more in old-growth redwood forests. Charles Griswold, Curator of Arachnology, Joel Ledford, postdoctoral researcher, and Tracy Audisio, graduate student, all at the California Academy of Sciences, collected, analyzed, and described the new family. Audisio's participation was supported by the Harriet Exline Frizzell Memorial Fund and by the Summer Systematics Institute at the Academy, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Credit: Joel Ledford, Calif Academy Of The Sciences / SF

Invasive Crayfish Survives and Adapts Well To Surroundings

Crayfish, or Crawfish is a freshwater crustacean that is related to the lobster. They are similar to the lobster in body structure and share the same physical features. The difference between the two is that the crayfish is smaller in size than the lobster and that they live in freshwater rather than in the ocean as the lobster does.

The crayfish is about six inches long and come in different colors such as white, red, brown, orange, dark green, or black. The crayfish has two pairs of antennae, a rigid shell, pincerlike claws, and four pairs of legs.

They breathe through feather-like gills are found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running. Crayfish feed on living and dead animals and plants.

Alien crayfish are a danger to local rivers. There is a potential for ecological damage when crayfish are introduced into non-native bodies of water

Crayfish species proves to be the ultimate survivor

One of the most invasive species on the planet is able to source food from the land as well as its usual food sources in the water, research from Queen Mary, University of London has found.

Scientists analysed the behaviour of red swamp crayfish in Kenya's Lake Naivasha and found that when the water level of the lake was low, the crayfish found additional food sources on land. The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE today (3 August 2012).

Lead author Dr Jonathan Grey from Queen Mary, University of London explained: "These crayfish are incredible survivors; our research shows they are able to feed off terrestrial plants directly, as well as aquatic plants – the first study to demonstrate this.

"It has significant implications for anyone looking to introduce these species in other areas."

Robot Lizard Replicates Landing Upright When Falling

Despite its simple design, RightingBot rights itself in mid-air with a swing of its tail just like the lizards that inspired it.
Credit: Tom Libby

When cats fall, they twist and bend their torsos to land upright. Lizards also land upright when they fall but they do not replicate how a cat does it.

Because of different body structures, cats and lizards land upright using different techniques. Lizards land upright by swinging their large tails one way to rotate their body the other.

Studying how these animals can land on their feet could help in developing devices and designs for vehicles, structures and even robots.

Falling lizards use tail for mid-air twist, inspiring lizard-like 'RightingBot'

Lizards, just like cats, have a knack for turning right side up and landing on their feet when they fall. But how do they do it? Unlike cats, which twist and bend their torsos to turn upright, lizards swing their large tails one way to rotate their body the other, according to a recent study that will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 29th June in Salzburg, Austria. A lizard-inspired robot, called 'RightingBot', replicates the feat.

This work, carried out by Ardian Jusufi, Robert Full and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, explains how large-tailed animals can turn themselves right side up while falling through the air. It could also help engineers to design air- or land-based robots with better stability.

"It is not immediately obvious which mechanism an animal will use to accomplish aerial righting and recover from falling in an upside-down posture. Depending on body size, morphology and mass distribution there are multiple strategies for animals to execute this behavior," said Ardian Jusufi, lead author of the study.

Deep Sea Animals Accidentally Introduced To A New Environment In The Juan De Fuca Ridge

Caption: This is a photo of Lepetodrilus gordensis, the species recovered from the Alvin submersible. Credit: Todd Haney

Located off the coasts of the state of Washington in the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada is the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The Juan de Fuca Ridge is an underwater volcanic mountain range. It was created by the separation of the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Pacific Plate. It is a tectonic spreading center. In plate tectonics, this means that the two tectonic plates are moving away from each other.

It is also home to a diverse community of life that depends on sulfur based nutrients rather than from the sun.





Deep sea animals stowaway on submarines and reach new territory

Marine scientists studying life around deep-sea vents have discovered that some hardy species can survive the extreme change in pressure that occurs when a research submersible rises to the surface. The team's findings, published in Conservation Biology, reveal how a species can be inadvertently carried by submersibles to new areas, with potentially damaging effects on marine ecosystems.

After using the manned submersible Alvin to collect samples of species from the Juan de Fuca Ridge under the northeastern Pacific Ocean, the team discovered 38 deep-sea limpets ( Lepetodrilus gordensis) among their sample. Intriguingly this species is believed to occur only in the vents of the Gorda Ridge, which are 635 km south of the dive site.

Limpets are kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails.

List of Top 10 New Species for 2012 Released

The top 10 new species list was announced May 23 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The 2012 list includes a teensy attack wasp, night-blooming orchid, underworld worm, ancient “walking cactus” creature, blue tarantula, Nepalese poppy, giant millipede, sneezing monkey, fungus named for a TV cartoon character and a beautiful but venomous jellyfish. Credit: Composite by Sara Pennak/International Institute for Species Exploration/Arizona State University

To commemorate the birth of Carl Linnaeus, a list of top ten species discovered will be released on May 23. Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist. He laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature and is known as the father of modern taxonomy. Linnaeus is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.

Each year about 36 new species of mammals are discovered. Other living organisms such as plants and insects discovered are much higher. In 2011, there were about 18,000 new species discovered. 200 were nominated to be on the list and out of these, ten have been singled out as the top discoveries. This does not undermine the importance of the others. The list focused on organisms that are unusual and have bizarre traits such as the Sneezing Monkey.

The list is intended to bring attention to the biodiversity crisis and to give honor to the individuals and institutions that devote time, money, and effort in discovering and describing the multitude of living things in the planet.

Top 10 new species list draws attention to diverse biosphere

The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and a committee of scientists from around the world announced their picks for the top 10 new species described in 2011. This is the fifth year for the top 10 new species list, which was released May 23 to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who was responsible for the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications.