Monday, January 5, 2009

‘Animals’ News

New Fish Species May Emerge Because Of How Females See Males

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:26

Pundamilia nyererei fish. Nuptial coloration in males of the cichlid species Pundamilia nyererei and Pundamilia pundamilia is adapted to the red or blue ambient light of their respective habitats and to the corresponding visual sensitivity of the females. (Credit: Copyright Eawag) A study of ...

New Dinosaur Species, Pachyrhinosaur Lakustai, Had Bony Frill And Horns

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:24

A 3-D computer rendering of the skeleton of Pachyrhinosaur lakustai. (Credit: Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Project) According to Dr. Philip Currie, renowned palaeontologist and Canada Research Chair of Dinosaur Palaeobiology from the University of Alberta who was involved in the excavation, Northwest Alberta was not ...

Short RNAs Show A Long History: MicroRNAs Found In Animals That Appeared A Billion Years Ago

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:23

Nematostella vectensis (anemone) from a saltmarsh. (Credit: Image courtesy of Southeast Regional Taxonomic Center) Evidence reported in Nature on October 1 by scientists in the lab of Whitehead Member and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator David Bartel provides a window into the early evolution ...

Ecologists Allay Fears For Farmland Birds From Wind Turbines

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:22

A new study has found that wind farms pose less of a threat to farmland birds than previously feared. (Credit: iStockphoto/José Luis Gutiérrez) Dr Mark Whittingham and colleagues from Newcastle University conducted bird surveys on arable farmland around two wind farms in the East ...

Extinct May Not Be Forever For Some Species Of Galapagos Tortoises

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:21

Hybrid tortoise on Volcano Wolf. (Credit: Claudio Ciofi) When Darwin first visited the island of Floreana in 1835 and wrote about the giant tortoises, heavy human exploitation was already decimating the population. Within a few decades, 4 of the 15 known species had disappeared. ...

DNA Tests Could Help Predict, Prevent Harmful Algal Blooms

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:20

It could also help decrease the outbreaks of food poisoning due to contamination of seafood by the toxins some of these algae produce. Senjie Lin, an Associate Professor of Molecular Ecology in the Department of Marine Sciences, at University of Connecticut, explains that the geographic extent, frequency, intensity, and economic impact ...

From Mothballs To Mobilization: Taking The Salt Out Of Sea Water

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:18

Geoscientist David Kreamer of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noting that at least 37% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of a coastline, says that desalinization -- removing salt from ocean water to create fresh water -- is a practical way to meet the growing human need. Desalinization ...

Canada’s Shores Saved Animals From Devastating Climate Change 252 Million Years Ago

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:17

Present-day shores of British Columbia. The shorelines of ancient Alberta, British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic were an important refuge for some of the world’s earliest animals, most of which were wiped out by a mysterious global extinction event some 252 million years ...

Vegetation Hardly Affected By Extreme Flood Events: Impacts On Flora And Fauna Of The Elbe Flood Of 2002

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:16

Summer 2002 flood of the Middle Elbe (Germany). (Credit: André Künzelmann/UFZ) Flow variations are known to be most important drivers in structuring riverine communities. However, until now, the effects of extreme flood events on the flora and fauna of floodplains have been largely unknown, ...

Molecule That Coordinates The Movement Of Cells Identified

Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:15

"The most dangerous part of cancer is that cancer cells migrate from their primary location and invade other parts of the body," says first author Xiaoyang Wu, a postdoc in Elaine Fuchs’s Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development. "ACF7 facilitates cell movement, so it’s possible that the less ACF7 ...